


The Duelist

by Sereven



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Beauxbatons, Duelling, F/M, Triwizard Tournament
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-04-06
Updated: 2017-01-31
Packaged: 2018-03-21 14:50:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 58,680
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3696365
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sereven/pseuds/Sereven
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Fame and Glory would ever hound him. First for who his parents are, later for his own achievements. But all he ever wanted was to finish his last year at Beauxbatons and be with the girl he likes. But fate rarely gives him an reprieve. So when his school became the venue of the famed Triwizard Tournament, he had no chance to avoid the trouble it would cause... nor could he escape his past or the family he had tried to forget...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Alright, this is one of my older works, so please excuse if it is not up to standards you might expect. This is an AU story about a Harry Potter, who is not the Boy Who Lived, due to the small fact that he was born years earlier than in canon. His sad fate passed on to his sister, who had been born in 1980. I know that I start the story with some big cliches that are rather common in this fandom. But don't let this deter you. The story uses cliches, but only as plot devices and not as the main storyline. To spice things up a bit, this story will also happen at Beauxbatons, not at Hogwarts. There are too few good stories about the French school in this fandom...

It was a calm and quiet day in southern France as Nicolas and Perenelle Flamel sat on the veranda of Chateau Flamel, enjoying a peaceful breakfast. The wizarding world had been quiet and peaceful ever since the fall of the dark lord Voldemort two years before. Though the people had been less influenced by the British dark lord here in France, there still was the lingering fear of all people that the Death Eaters would eventually spread their reign of terror. But now this dark time was over and the fears forgotten fast by the people.

Nicolas Flamel was one of the few people in France that knew the full extent of the danger that Voldemort posed for their entire world. This was mostly due to his constant contact with his old friend Albus Dumbledore and their often very animated discussion about tactics to defeat the dark lord. But since Voldemort's fall two years ago Nicolas has not heard a word from his friend, something that irked him from time to time.

But that would change with this day, little did Nicolas and his wife know how much their lives would be changed by the appearance of Albus Dumbledore on this morning of the 8th August 1983.

"Master Nicolas, there are guests for you. One of them is Professor Dumbledore." One of the Flamel house elves squeaked as he approached the breakfast table.

Nicolas looked a bit surprised at that, his wife even more so as she regarded her husband with a raised eyebrow, silently demanding a possible explanation from him.

"Whatever he wants today..." Nicolas murmured. "Finally remembered that we still live, ungrateful child." He said with a bit of humor, eliciting a laugh from Perenelle. "Tanis, please bring our guests to us, we will talk to them here."

The elf just bowed and vanished with a pop to fulfill his task.

"What do you reckon he wants this time?" Perenelle asked.

"Maybe he has started feeling his age and wants some of our Elixir. Not all of us can live this long without showing their age, my dear." Nicolas chuckled at his own words, but stopped quickly when he saw Albus Dumbledore approaching with what seemed to be a young boy that tried to hide behind the old man's legs.

"Nicolas, Perenelle, good morning to the both of you. I hope we are not interrupting anything?" Albus said jovially.

"That depends, Albus. I would ask you why you are here, but the question about that boys identity is more interesting right now."

"The poor boy looks like he is afraid of his own shadow, what happened, Albus?" Perenelle asked with a frown as she saw the boy.

"This is young Harry, he is also the reason I am here today... Nicolas, can we speak somewhere more private?" Albus looked down at the boy, making it clear that whatever he had to say he didn't want the boy to hear it.

"Of course. Let us go to my study." Nicolas replied, understanding what Albus wanted. But he would demand some serious answers. "Perenelle, would you stay with the boy while I talk to Albus? Maybe he is hungry and can keep you company until we return."

"Of course. But don't be long." Perenelle said hesitantly. "Come, Harry. Sit down with me. I will just summon Tanis and we get you something you like for breakfast." She smiled kindly at the boy as she walked over to Albus and guided the child towards the table. Harry seemed reluctant to leave Albus side, but a smile and a nod from Albus convinced him to go with the woman he did not even know.

Albus and Nicolas quickly left the woman and the child alone and retreated to the personal study of Nicolas Flamel. When they entered the room Albus couldn't help but chuckle, in the last two years he had not been here there had been no changes in this room.

"Still firmly against keeping this room tidy, are you Nicolas?"

"Cut the chase, Albus." Nicolas said briskly. "Tell me why I have just left my wife with a small child, though we both know that it causes her grief to be around children. You know how sad it makes her to see children that age, because we can never have children of our own." Nicolas was agitated and made no sign to hide it. One of the darker secrets of the Elixir of Life that Nicolas was so famous for was that it made it impossible to have children from the moment you first drink it. Had Nicolas known that before, he and his wife would have never used it.

"That young boy is... was Harry James Potter." Albus said somewhat dejectedly.

"Potter? As in Erica Potter, the girl-who-lived? And why do you say that he was Harry Potter?" Nicolas seemed confused.

"Yes, he is the older brother of our famed heroine. He is a bright and gifted child, but sadly one of his gifts led to him being cast out by his hotheaded father."

"Who in his right mind would cast out a child? Just what has this boy done, Albus?"

"He is a Parselmouth. No one knows why but young Harry is able to talk to Snakes. In Britain this skill is known as a sign for infamous dark lords. Sadly James Potter is also very gullible and believes such rumors over everything he knows about his own son." Albus shook his head as he said that, wondering where James common sense had ended to do this to his son.

"Typically British. Believing every piece of shit someone else tells you. Really the common sense of your people must be somewhat faulty when a father would cast out his innocent son just because of a magical ability that is not even dangerous." Nicolas ranted, enraged that someone would do that to a child. He had no sympathy for such people, especially since they threw away what he and his wife could never have.

"Yes, I tried to convince James to not do this, but he is stubborn. He sees Harry as a danger to both Erica and his unborn sister... not even his wife could change his mind." Albus paused to sigh before he continued. "And that is why am here now. The boy needs a home and you and your wife are the only people I can trust with the boy. All other people are close friends with the Potters or would treat him different because of this infamous ability he has."

"Albus, don't you dare toy with us. I won't allow you to talk us into taking a child just to have him ripped away from us in a few years when his parents get their heads out of their asses. Such an act would destroy my wife." Nicolas glared at Albus, seeing him look apologetic was not enough to sooth his anger. How could Albus demand such a thing?

"I swear my friend that I had no such thing in mind. The boy needs a family far away from his former life. A whole different country... a new start. I ask you to take him in and raise him as your own, but I have no intention to ever take him from you again. The Potters have cast him out, there is no more claim they can have on the boy no matter what the future bring."

"Can you really swear an oath to me that you will never do anything to take the boy from us? That you will not even tell anyone where you have brought him? If you can't do that then please leave before you cause my wife even more grief then you already have."

"If you desire it then I will swear such an oath. But you must promise me in return that you will train him to the best of your abilities. The boy might be as imperative to our future as his sister is." Albus retorted without hesitation.

Nicolas deflated visibly, shaking his head as he leaned on his desk. "I will talk to Perenelle about this. She will have the last word in this, though I doubt she will object."

Both men returned to the veranda where Perenelle tried to lure the boy out of his shell. At this point she didn't know why he seemed so introvert. When Albus and Nicolas returned to the table the latter quickly excused himself and his wife to tell her about Albus request. Albus knew that would be an interesting conversation to be sure. He had a reason why he approached Nicolas alone to begin with.

"Sir, why are we here?" Harry asked Albus timidly as they both waited for the Flamel's return.

"You will see soon, my boy. If all goes well you will never have to fear anything ever again."

It took the Flamels only a few moments before they returned. Nicolas looked somewhat exasperated, but his wife sported a smile that Albus had not seen on her for as long as he remembered.

"Albus, we have decided to accept your request." Perenelle said jovially before she sat down next to Harry.

"But you will swear that oath we talked about. We will do it all today, I will go the ministry to get the paperwork and so on." Nicolas said with his professional business man voice.

"I am glad that you agree and I will gladly swear that oath."

"Sir, what... what is going on?" Harry asked confused.

"We have agreed to adopt you as our son." Perenelle said with a happy squeal before she hugged the boy. Harry seemed to shocked to react to it and just sat there, looking at the two men for confirmation. Nicolas simply nodded, but Albus laughed jovially when he saw the disbelieve on the boys face.

"It is true, Harry. You may not be a Potter anymore, but now you will be a Flamel. Nicolas and Perenelle will take good care of you, you have my word on that." Albus said as he petted Harry's head.

"But what about his name, Harry Flamel does not sound right..." Perenelle said. "He needs a French name."

"How about we simply name him Henri, if he wants to he can still be called Harry by friends." Nicolas replied evenly.

"Henri... Henri Nicolas Flamel, yes that has a nice ring to it." Perenelle mused idly. "Would like that Harry? Would you like to become our son Henri?"

After the shock of the last few days, after loosing his family and all he had known, Harry was no sure what he should believe or not. But the way Perenelle looked at him and talked to him seemed nothing else but sincere. Maybe he was meant to be here. Albus had told him sometimes our destiny might follow the strangest paths.

"I would like that... mom." He added the last part hesitantly, not sure how Perenelle would react to it. But his fears were unfounded and disappeared as Perenelle hugged him tightly with the happiest smile she has ever had. Nicolas felt equally happy, but mostly because his wife finally got what she had wished for all her life.

This day all that was left of Harry James Potter disappeared. And in his stead Henri Nicolas Flamel started his new life in France with his new parents. Far away from the painful memories of his past life, far away from the family that had rejected him just because of what he was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I know that the whole James acts like a dick is a common cliche. But it is one of those who are far closer to the truth than some might like. Face it, James has always been an immature bully and he has been just as prejudiced against everything dark as Ron Weasley. Abandoning a child because of a dark trait may be a bit too far fetched, but we can hardly say how James would have reacted to finding out that Harry can talk to 'evil' snakes.
> 
> Albus Dumbledore will take a much more open role, as an understanding mentor and mostly absentee grandfather figure. This is not about bashing and he always meant well, though he can be quite manipulative if he has to. But he sees a bright future for Harry, so he nurtures his talents and helps him when his own family does not.
> 
> I will upload one or two more chapters here today. If I have the time, I will upload all the chapters I have finished so far. Let's see if the people here are interested in reading more about Henri Flamel...


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The years with his new family had been good to Henri Flamel. As a grown boy of seventeen years, he lives the life he has always hoped for. Friends, rivals, a girl to love. But whenever you think that life is good, something comes up and bites you in the arse...

Henri watched his opponent closely as they both circled around each other like predators, waiting for an opening to strike. The fight had been going on for nearly half an hour now since both adversaries too stubborn to yield.

Spells and curses were flung, shields erected, attacks evaded. The spectators watched with baited breath. The display of skill and cunning was stunning, especially from two as young as those. The final fight between the heirs of the Flamel and Grindelwald families was greatly anticipated and did not disappoint. But even this fight would eventually come to an end.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I present you the winner of the 1994 Under-19 European Dueling Tournament, Tristan Grindelwald." The people cheered even louder at this, celebrating their new champion.

Henri did not mind loosing against this opponent. He knew that Tristan was one of the very few in their age group, that could defeat him. During the next Tournament Tristan would already be in the adult section of this competition and that is the place where the real fun begins. Duels like the one they had just fought were far to restricted to be fun. Oh how Henri dreaded that he would have to wait one year longer to follow the young Grindelwald, next year would be no fun at all.

He was just about to leave when Tristan grabbed his arm and dragged him into the spotlight, making sure that they would both be celebrated as the best in the age group 18 and below.

"Don't be so shy, Henri. You deserve this as much as I do. Without you it wouldn't have been any fun." Tristan said with an impish grin.

"Whatever you say, Grindelwald. How about we go to the healers now? My wounds are getting itchy and I don't fancy tainting the rest of my robes with my blood as well."

"Ah, Flamel, always so tidy. Just stop wearing white robes and no one will ever see the blood."

"But I have an image to uphold, you know this whole Paladin thing." Henri whined as they both hobbled out of the arena and towards the healers, who had already prepared everything they would need.

The healers were busy for nearly half an hour until they had taken care of all the cuts, bruises, burn wounds and damaged bones, before both duelists were ready to be released for the final award ceremony.

* * *

It was the next morning when Henri woke up in his bed, back at Chateau Flamel, feeling slouched, both by the fights of the day before and the party afterward. Deep into the night they had celebrated the outcome of the Tournament. Henri and Tristan had been quite content with the way it had ended, knowing that the next time they would fight each other, there would be no restrictions but their own powers.

Ever since Henri had started competitive dueling at the age of fourteen, he had clashed with Tristan Grindelwald, the grandson of the infamous dark lord Gellert Grindelwald. They had an odd relationship, a camaraderie outside of the dueling arena, but a fierce competition once they had to duel. Some would call them friends, but both always said that a friendship would suffer greatly due to their competitive streak. But that did not stop Henri from having a close friendship with Tristan's younger sister Cassandra. A much too close relationship for Tristan's liking.

"Hn, what time is it?" Groaned the girl next to Henri, as she slowly woke up due to the light that streamed in from the opened windows.

"About 9 AM. Enough time, Cassy. Don't worry." Henri said with a grin as he pulled the girl closer.

"Already... oh shit. Tristan is gonna have a fit when he finds out that I was away all night..." Suddenly she was wide awake and struggled to break free from Henri's hold, but he held her down and nuzzled her neck.

"Relax. He was with his fiancee and you know them. He won't start looking for you unless you don't show up for lunch."

"Still, no need to push our luck." Finally she broke free from Henri's hold and jumped out of bed. Henri groaned at the sudden loss of closeness, but remained in bed none the less, while he admired the view.

"Believe me, you brother can't be against this. He always says that he only wants the best guy to be with his sister and who can be better than the only guy who can kick his ass in the dueling ring." Henri said cockily.

"As far as I recall, you lost yesterday. So Mr Runner-up, have you seen my dress somewhere? Just how much did we drink last night." She paced around in his room, searching for her elusive clothing as Henri finally stood up himself to get ready for the day.

"Ouch, that was a cheap shot, Cassy. You wound me deeply." He made a mock dieing gesture, before they both started laughing. "I guess you will have to make it up to me, that have you hurt my feelings." He said with a mirthful expression as he suddenly jumped out of the bed and swooped her up in his arms. "Now we can do this my way or... let's see, oh yes, my way."

Cassandra just sighed in mock exasperation, rolling her eyes at his antics. "So what are your terms, oh so gracious Paladin?"

"First we take a shower... no sense in starting a day without one." He said as he walked towards his private bathroom. "And if you behave I might feel inclined to tell you where your dress has ended up or else..."

"Else what?"

"Else you will have to have breakfast with me and my parents in only your underwear. Oh I like that idea." He replied with an impish glint in his eyes.

"Oh yeah, your parents would surely like that. Do such things and your mom will start preparing for a wedding... our mothers both have the wrong ideas about our relationship."

"Less talk, more showering." Henri said as he quelled all further objections with a kiss.

* * *

It took them more than an hour, before they finally exited his chambers. Far too late for breakfast in Cassandra's opinion, so they directly walked towards the main floo connection of the Chateau, so Cassandra could return home. Hopefully before her brother would realize that she was gone all night.

"You really worry too much." Henri said with a smile as they arrived at the fireplace in the main hall.

"Sure. You weren't there when he contemplated sending bounty hunters after you at the time he found out what we were doing as recreational exercises." Cassandra retorted smiling.

"If he insists to be old fashioned, then I will officially ask your father for permission to court you." Henri replied confidently. He knew that the Grindelwalds were not fanatical followers of the old traditions and customs since old Gellert had been vanquished, but he was sure that Cassandra's family would expect good behavior from any suitor of their daughter.

"And what if I don't want to be courted?" She asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Do you want me to court you?" He asked dubiously. He had to admit, so far he had spent little thought on this topic. Neither had ever really questioned whether their relationship was more than just friends with benefits.

"I don't even know the answer to that." She muttered. "Anyways I will see you soon. Hopefully one more time before we have to leave for our schools in September." She gave him another kiss before she turned to leave. "Bye, Henri."

"See you soon, Cassy." He hated to see her leave, especially since he knew that chances were high, that he wouldn't see her for quite some time. He really envied Tristan right now, the older Grindelwald had graduated from Durmstrang last year, while his sister still had to attend her seventh year there. And he himself would attend Beauxbatons for his final year. He and Cassandra would be at the opposite ends of Europe for many months.

"Was that Cassandra I heard moments ago?" Perenelle Flamel had entered the hall only moments after Cassandra's departure, looking amused at her son.

In the last eleven years that Henri had stayed with the Flamels as their son, neither his mother nor his father had aged a single day. He knew that his mother was more than six hundred years old, but she did not look a day older than thirty, the time she had started drinking the Elixir of Life. She still had a youthful aura surrounding her, her long black hair and jade colored eyes giving her a regal look. His father too still looked like the day he started drinking the elixir, only his hair had started to gray a little over the many years of his life.

Albus Dumbledore had often marveled how the elixir worked. He was astounded when the Flamels did not age, even after the Philosopher's Stone had been lost nearly three years ago. Henri knew everything about the incident that involved his former sister, Erica and the specter of the dark lord Voldemort. What neither Dumbledore nor Voldemort knew at that time, was that the stone that Nicolas Flamel had given his old friend was a fake, the original still safely hidden here at the chateau. 'Let the children play with the toys, pretending to hold the secrets of life in their hands.' Nicolas had told his son back then. They had a good laugh when they heard about all the troubles that both Dumbledore and Voldemort went through because of the stone.

"Yes, maman. She had to get back home, else she would have stayed a bit longer." Henri replied with a hint of disappointment in his voice.

"You will surely see her again soon." Perenelle replied with a knowing smile. "I really wish the two of you would take the next step in your relationship. You are such an adorable couple... oh I can already see the grandchildren, golden hair and emerald eyes..."

"Maman!" Henri exclaimed embarrassed. "Just let it rest. If it is meant to happen it will, otherwise it won't." He shook his head in indignation before he turned to leave. "I'll be outside flying some rounds."

"Ah, not so fast. There is a guest here for you. He joined us for breakfast hoping you would come down in time, but alas now he is waiting in the drawing room for you."

"Who is it?" He asked, but his mother did not answer, instead she left him with a smile on her lips.

Not knowing what to expect, Henri walked towards the drawing room of the chateau, one of his favorite places in the entire building. He would sit there for hours, reading, studying or just talking with his father and guests.

When he entered the room he could hear an all too familiar laugh. And just like he had guessed first, there was Albus Dumbledore, sitting together with his father.

"Ah, my son. You finally deign us worthy to come." Nicolas greeted his son, the moment he saw him at the door. At least his father had the decency not to mock his relationship with Cassandra, his mother would have used this as a chance for another jab. Guest present or not.

"Good morning to you as well, father." Henri retorted. "And greetings, Uncle Albus. What brings you here on this fine day? I thought you were busy."

Albus stood up and greeted the boy with a friendly hug which Henri returned readily. "How could I not come to congratulate you. Second place in such a prestigious Tournament, I am really proud of you, my boy."

"How could I not get this far. I have the training I received from you and father to rely on; that is an advantage not many can claim." Henri said.

"Aye, it is good to know that the many hours we spent in training were not wasted." Albus replied. "Only one opponent was too strong for you this time, but as I heard it was a very close fight. Sadly I could not see it, due to the problems after the Quidditch World Cup I could not leave Britain at that time. Too much Ministry business. Even today I can hardly stay longer than for this friendly chat."

"Tristan is one tough adversary, but as comrades we both see no problem in loosing from time to time. We can accept defeat and learn from our mistakes." At these words Albus nodded sagely. He had watched the Grindelwald family closely for many years, but in the end he saw no ill intentions coming from them and accepted that they were not connected to Gellert's madness. He somehow also felt relieved that Henri was getting along with Tristan Grindelwald, a good friend would definitely help ensuring that the Grindelwald heir would not be tempted by the dark path his grandfather had chosen.

"Good, good. But there is another thing I need to tell you. Usually I would not reveal this secret, but since you are a special case, I deem it prudent to warn you beforehand." Henri raised an eyebrow in confusion when he heard that. "This year there will be another great Tournament, a competition between Europe's three major magical schools. The Triwizard Tournament will take place for the first time in many centuries."

"That is great. I always wanted to see such a competition, since father told me the stories about the last Tournament he had attended."

"Yes, well initially we had planned to have the Tournament at Hogwarts this time..." He paused when he saw Henri blanch a bit, Albus knew exactly that Henri had no intention to go to Hogwarts and face the past he wanted to leave behind. "But because of the incident at the World Cup both Durmstrang and Beauxbatons had threatened to desist from participating, unless the Tournament will be somewhere else. So the final vote decided that it will be held at your school this year."

"They will come to Beauxbatons?" Henri asked with a frown.

"Yes. At Beauxbatons there will be more competitions between the schools than just the three tasks that Hogwarts would have offered so both Hogwarts and Durmstrang will come with a variety of students from the years four through seven. This will also include your younger sister and her friends I am afraid. I tell you this, so you can prepare yourself to the inevitable meeting."

"Don't forget your oath Albus, even should they recognize my son, they will never get a chance to reclaim him." Nicolas said tersely from his position next to Henri.

"All they can do is beg his forgiveness, but the law is on your side, my friend. I know that Erica had been beyond mad at her parents when she found out that they had sent away her older brother, because of his special ability. Especially after the shocking revelation that Erica can speak Parsel as well, during her second year. Both Lily and James had been shocked beyond believe after that. They had begged me for years to tell them where I had brought young Harry. But they don't deserve to know, not until they have shown true repentance for their deeds. At that time I had the suspicion that they only wanted him back because the secret about the disowned son had come out and they were publicly ostracized for it. I am not so sure about that anymore, but in the end it will be Henri's decision whether he forgives them or not. He is seventeen after all and therefore of age to make his own decisions." Albus said with a contemplative look. But the doubtful look her got from both Nicolas and Henri showed him that they would not believe him just like that.

"Yes, well I still believe they suffered enough, but they need to earn Harry's forgiveness. But back to the topic, Hogwarts and Durmstrang students will spend nearly the entire school year at Beauxbatons, so please try not to cause an incident with the Potters when they show up." Albus said.

"I'll try. But with the Durmstrang seventh years at my school, I believe I will manage to find ample distraction." Henri said with an impish grin. Maybe he would see Cassandra much sooner than he had hoped. And for an entire year there was no chance for her overprotective brother to interfere.

"Please don't give Mr Grindelwald more reasons to kill you than he already has, son." Nicolas said with a sigh.

"Don't worry, father. Everything will be alright."

Not really knowing what exactly the father and son duo was talking about, Albus stood up to leave the chateau. "I'm afraid that I need to leave now. There is still so much to prepare for the coming school year."

"As you wish. Thank you for warning me beforehand, Uncle Albus."

"Don't worry about it too much, Harry. Good bye, Harry, Nicolas." And with that Dumbledore was gone.

"This will be one hard year." Henri mumbled mostly to himself, but his father heard it anyway.

"Will you try and enter the Tournament? It might be a once in a lifetime chance for you." Nicolas asked.

"Dunno. I'll have a look at what else will happen this school year. I actually planned on using most of this year for my work on acquiring my mastery for combat magic and further my studies in alchemy." Henri seemed contemplative for some moments. "I guess I will cross that bridge when I get to it. There is no need to decided yet."

"Good. Whatever you decide, your mother and I will support your decision." Nicolas told his son sincerely.

"Thank you, father."

"Now let us go and have a look at the potions, that have been simmering since yesterday. Time to finish them." Nicolas said as he stood up and left for the potions laboratory in the basement of the chateau, closely followed by his son.

* * *

As Albus Dumbledore returned to his office at Hogwarts, he had to see that he was not alone, but that there were already several persons waiting for him, passing the time with a rather heated discussion as it seemed. But the moment he stepped out of the fireplace they all stopped talking almost immediately.

"Albus, where have you been? We need you here and no one knows where you have run off to. At least leave a message when you leave for one of your other duties." Minerva McGonagall admonished the headmaster.

"Forgive me, Minerva, but even I am entitled to some privacy. I was merely visiting some old friends."

"Of course you can, but there is so much work to be done... Just where have you been?" The stern witch continued, though with much less fervor than before.

"I was merely visiting the Flamels. Young Henri finished second place in the European Dueling Tournament. Such an achievement needs to be acknowledged."

"Yes of course. The Flamel boy is bound to be a great duelist with both you and Nicolas training him. A pity I can't meet him this year, but one of us has to stay here at Hogwarts during the Triwizard Tournament at Beauxbatons." Minerva said.

"Henri Flamel? I believe the Daily Prophet published an article about him a few weeks ago. The kid is seen as a prodigy when it comes to dueling." James Potter, Hogwarts resident dueling instructor said with a chuckle. "I will judge myself how much of that is the truth and what is simple sensationalistic conjecture. I just wish you would spend nearly as much time training Erica as you spend on that boy."

"I told you before, James, that Erica gets a lot more attention than I could ever offer Henri, simply because she is here at this school and he is not. The difference in their strength and accomplishments is caused only by his unrelenting self training and the age difference. His second place in the dueling tournament is a testament to his conviction and tenacity."

"Of course." James said in a disbelieving tone. "Just thinking about this, my own son would be old enough to participate in the Triwizard Tournament, do you reckon whether he will show up with one of the other schools?"

Albus just looked scolding at James for his words. "I told you countless times, that I won't tell you where he is. Should he ever forgive you, then he will find you on his own. Stop your attempts to goad me into revealing anything."

For the last few years James had repeatedly tried to find out where Albus had brought Harry, but the old wizard remained adamant. This infuriated James every time. His wife and his daughter had not spoken with him for months, after they had found out for what reason James had banished the boy from the family. And even their youngest daughter, Ariana, who had not even been born before Harry was gone, often glared at him whenever they talked about the lost Potter son. His family wanted the lost child back and even he himself could see now that his actions had been rash and the way he treated his son had been unfair. But to find Harry and make it up to him was a task that seemed almost impossible to James... if only he knew what would await him at Beauxbatons.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So you have finally seen the major OC character, Cassandra. A story set at Beauxbatons is bound to several OCs, due to the fact that JKR never really fleshed out the magical world outside of Britain... in fact even the magical world outside of Hogwarts was rather small as well. Just Diagon Alley and the Ministry. But I am getting off topic again. Cassandra is a major character and I strife to make you like or despise her as much as any character from the books. I know that some won't be happy about her, some will hate her, some will adore her, but she is in the story, she is important and she plays a major role, together with Harry, Fleur, Viktor and some of the other lot.
> 
> Starting next chapter Fleur will have her big screen time. Her role will be that of the best friend/annoying sister type of friend, though the future is always uncertain...


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Back to school, but don't forget your socks, your underwear and your angry Veela... And please ignore the midgets on your way out, thank you...

The end of the holidays came rather quickly this year; not that Henri would mind with the prospect of the upcoming events. He was sure, that he would actually enjoy his last year at Beauxbatons, since the final school year would only focus on the subjects that the students wanted to achieve their mastery in. Thanks to that, his schedule would be rather light. More time to enjoy himself and plan his future after school, after all there was no chance in hell, that he would mess up acquiring his mastery in combat magic and alchemy. His father would be seriously disappointed should his son fail in alchemy with all the things he had taught his son over the years. Of course it would take many more years to complete his mastery in that particular art, but the exams at the school are an important stepping stone.

Things actually looked rather well for Henri. And with the Triwizard Tournament and the two guest schools staying at Beauxbatons, the year promised to be really entertaining. Even with the downside that he would most likely meet his former family. Oh they would regret throwing him out once they see what he has become.

In fact Henri was astounded that he had not met his former parents so far, especially his father. The man had taken to teaching dueling as supplementary class at Hogwarts. Henri had actually fought and won against several of his former father's students in past tournaments. But never even once had his father watched any of his students compete. But it only served Henri right, he hat not really wished to meet that man again.

He came to the conclusion, that things would be best this way, at least for the first few days of the new school year. There would be a month before the other schools would arrive at Beauxbatons, time that he would definitely use to get most of his work done while he still had his peace.

The morning of the day he had to return to school started rather slow for Henri. He would not be needed at school until afternoon and even then there would be hours until the opening ceremony of the new year started. He had no intention to loiter around during the orientation for the younger years, he had done that once and it was a rather strange day for him. His prowess in the dueling ring had earned him a form of admiration from the younger years, that he could happily live without. But alas they did look up to the schools resident dueling champion and he could do nothing against it except keeping his distance to the more troublesome fans.

Henri still lay peacefully on his bed, as he contemplated what he would do with his time as a bang on his door interrupted his musings. "Henri, dear, get up. You have to get ready for school. Remember that you have promised the headmistress to be on time this year." His mother's voice admonished softly him from the other side of the door.

Henri groaned when he heard that, he really had forgotten that Headmistress Maxime had stressed the importance of a punctual arrival at the end of the last year. He respected his headmistress greatly. She had made many concessions that allowed him to pursue his passion. Without her, he would not have been able to attend half as many dueling competitions as he had and he would have never met his eternal rival... and said rival's sister of course. Well he would have met him eventually, but they would have ended up as nothing more the passing acquaintances. So he begrudgingly stood up and prepared for the day and to arrive on time, shortly after lunchtime, like the rest of his fellow seventh years would do.

His mother only smiled sweetly when she saw her son entering the kitchen nearly an hour later to get a late breakfast. He still had a rather sleepy look on his face despite a long cold shower he had taken to fully wake himself up.

"Finally rejoined the land of the living, have you?" Perenelle asked her son with a light laugh.

"I expected to sleep until noon at least... else I would have gone to bed earlier." Henri shot back with a yawn. "Is father still home?"

"No, you missed him. He went to the ministry for some business, shortly before I woke you up."

"Merde! I wanted to ask him something about the potion I finished last night..." Henri said disappointed.

"Watch your tone, young man. I hope you show better manners when you are around Cassandra, you don't want to scare off my future daughter in law." Perenelle chastised with another laugh as she saw her son's cheeks turning red.

"Maman, I told you countless times that we don't have that kind of relationship. We have no plans for the future what so ever." Henri exclaimed loudly.

"Sure, sure. If you are so insistent on repeating that claim every time I even mention Cassandra..." Perenelle left the sentence hanging there, lest her son would only exclaim more denials. "But speaking about the ladies in your life, will you pick up Fleur before you go to Beauxbatons or will you two meet there this year?"

"I'm going to pick her up and apparate both of us to school. Her mother asked me to after Fleur's last mishap." Henri said with a grin.

"Don't tease the poor girl too much. The last time you did that, she set your robes on fire." Perenelle stated with a thoughtful look.

Henri knew that his mother liked the outspoken part-veela. Ever since Henri had befriended her in their first year, Fleur had been a common guest at Chateau Flamel. She was one of Henri's most faithful companions, even traveling with him to his competitions whenever she could. Though Fleur would never openly admit it it was obvious that she treasured her friendship with Henri a lot. Whenever asked though she would always claim that watching others fight was her favorite way to avoid boredom, but it was obvious that she would not enjoy watching duels this much, without Henri competing.

In a way Perenelle had always been disappointed that Fleur and Henri never considered dating, but it was obvious that it wouldn't have worked out. Fleur was too blunt for Henri and Henri was too stubborn for her. They loved to bicker like siblings would do, but any romantic feelings had no chance that way. But she knew it was better for them. They worked out as close friends and at least Henri had someone akin to a sibling that way.

"Oh well, I should get going soon. Fleur hates tardiness even more then the headmistress... I really should have stayed in bed until the insanity is all over... I would get less trouble for never showing up, than the trouble I will face for arriving late..." Henri said with a sigh.

"Have you packed all the things you will need this year? School books, writing utensils, socks, underwear..." Perenelle would have continued her list had it not been for her son's quick and loud interjection.

"Yes, maman, I have everything. Two separate trunks full of stuff actually..." Henri murmured. "All shrunk and in my pocket." He petted the pocket of his trousers for good measure as he said that while he stood up from the table where he had his impromptu breakfast.

"Good. Ah, I can't believe that you are already in your final year. Time flies by too fast, even for an immortal like me." Perenelle said with a long sigh. "Be good this year and don't do anything that your father and I wouldn't do."

"So you actually want me to go and mess around with life's mysteries in my quest for knowledge?" Henri asked with a grin. He liked to tease his mother with this topic, especially after she had told him that he would never go anywhere near the elixir of life. She wants grandchildren and so she would never allow him to drink the elixir. Not that he cared much about it, Henri had no interest in immortality after hearing the many stories of his parents past adventures. Eternal life sure sounds interesting, but being forced to watch all people you know and care for getting old and die is something that was not very tempting.

That was also the reason why his parents had decided to stop using the elixir once their grandchildren had been born. To watch their son and his family grow older and eventually die was something that both Nicolas and Perenelle would never be able to live with. They had been searching for the reason of life for so long, but after centuries they found it when they finally got a child of their own.

"Go to school and don't forget to write me regularly. With Cassandra at Beauxbatons for nearly the entire year I expect reports on your progress." Perenelle replied teasingly, avoiding his previous question entirely.

"I won't even dignify that demand with a proper answer." Henri said warily. "Well I'll be off. I will come home to see you during the holidays, maman."

"Be careful, son. Especially this year, with that Tournament around." Perenelle said as she gave her son a good bye hug.

"I will. Bye, maman." Henri said as he broke the hug and stepped a few steps back to apparate.

"Children truly grow up too fast." Perenelle said with a sad tone. "But at least that means that I will get some grandchildren to spoil rotten in a few years. Oh I can't wait for that." She said with more enthusiasm before she left the room to continue with her daily routine.

* * *

Henri whistled a merry tune as he walked up the familiar path towards the home of the Delacours. He had been here countless times before, but he always enjoyed coming back, as it meant walking along that long path trough the artfully grown garden of the family's mansion.

As soon as the house itself was in sight Henri was already tackled by a blond cannon ball, that was all too familiar to the young wizard.

"Henri, you're finally here!" Exclaimed Fleur's little sister Gabrielle. The seven year old had always been rather fond of the raven haired wizard. Due to Fleur's friendship with Henri, the boy had a constant presence in nearly all of Gabrielle's life. And true enough Henri knew the little girl since she had been a less then a year old infant.

"Uff, careful, midget." Henri replied with a chuckle when he saw the indignant look on the seven year old's face.

"I'm not a midget!" She exclaimed loudly. "You're just lanky that is all."

"Sure thing, Gabrielle. You are still only... well let's guess... only 1,10 meters tall." Henri replied with a mock serious expression.

"I'm 1,18." Gabrielle exclaimed proudly.

"Then you are still a midget." Henri deadpanned, much to Gabrielle's displeasure.

"You are mean." Gabrielle stated in what she believed to be a serious tone before she launched herself at him again in an attempt to knock him over. But he saw that coming, since he knew the little Veela well enough to predict her actions. Before she could hit him he already had his wand out and cast a small levitation charm on the girl, causing her to float nearly on eye level with him.

"So, happy now that you are on my eye level for the first and only time in your life, midget?" Henri asked with grin.

"Let me down, Henri, this is unfair."

"No can do, Gabrielle. You would only try to get my uniform dirty and I don't have time to change before I need to get to school." Henri replied seriously.

The commotion had already attracted some of the other denizens of the mansion. Near Henri stood the little girl's father. The man had a benevolent smile on his face as he watched the young wizard and his youngest daughter interact.

"Ah, Monsieur Delacour. Good day to you." Henri greeted the man happily while he ignored the little Veela that floated next to him.

"Good morning, Henri. I see Gabrielle has found you first... as usual." The man said with a soft shake of his head. "Would you please let my daughter down, Henri. Appolline would be displeased to hear that Gabrielle escaped the mansion by floating over the walls that surround our property."

"Ah, but she looks really cute like that. Stick some fake wings to her back and we can actually tell people that there is a really small fairy flying around here." Henri said with a mock sweet voice, causing Gabrielle's father to laugh.

"As tempting as that sounds, it would be better to let her down."

"Fine." Henri conceded before he turned towards Gabrielle. "You heard that, midget. Your father bailed you out this time." He said with a bright grin. "Next time I guess I will stick you to a tree or something. So you better don't try anything with my clothes while I am here." With a final swish of his wand the girl finally returned to the ground before she stalked away in a huff.

"Don't worry about her mood. She will have forgotten this incident by the time you and Fleur have left for school." The man said lightly. "But to other topics. Have you come to accompany Fleur today? It would be very much appreciated if you could keep her from trying to apparate alone this time."

"Papa! Don't say such things." Came Fleur's indignant voice as she joined the two men. Gabrielle, hiding behind her sister all the way, kept an eye on Henri.

Henri though decided to ignore Fleur for the moment and rather answer her father's question. "Yes, your wife has asked me to side along apparate her to school. No one wants a repeat of the incident last time she apparated herself."

"Henri!" Fleur growled dangerously.

"Oh, hi Fleur. Haven't seen you there." He lied casually. "Oh don't give me that look. We all had our mishaps while apparating. You just happened to splinch yourself during your last try. Your mother is a little worried and no one wants to have to reattach your hand again after another... mishap." Henri said with a smile.

"That was one little mistake for Merlin's sake. I was only slightly distracted that day, no need to make such a fuss over the entire topic." Fleur exclaimed exasperated before she turned around and walked back to the house in a huff.

"You truly have a talent when it comes to angering Veela." Fleur's father said with a laugh.

"Ah, they can never stay mad at me for long." Henri retorted quickly. "But I should follow her before she and Gabrielle stick together to get their revenge." He said with a thoughtful expression.

"Yes, that might be better. Well it was nice seeing you again, Henri. Drop by when you have the time, Appolline would be delighted to see you again."

"Sure thing, Monsieur Delacour. Once the last year at Beauxbatons is over, I will come to visit." Henri said happily. "Until next time then."

Henri quickly followed Fleur into the house, so they could leave before Gabrielle would feel bold enough to launch another sneak attack against his clothes. For years the little Veela had tried to recolor his clothes with varying success. So far he was lucky for this day. His uniform was still pristine clean and no Veela had tried to fry him with fireballs. But he wasn't sure if his luck would hold.

"Fleur? Get your stuff ready, we need to leave soon, if we want to be on time this year." Henri exclaimed loudly as he waited in the main hall of the large house. He looked around wearily, waiting for Gabrielle's next attack, but so far the young girl stayed away from him.

"No need to yell, you know. Maman has reprimanded you again and again not to shout inside the house." Fleur said exasperatedly as she joined him.

"Luckily your mother is not home as it seems." Henri said with a grin. "Got all your stuff?"

"Yes." Fleur replied in a huff.

"Good. Let's get going before your sister strikes again." Henri said with a tone of urgency in his voice. Before Fleur could even voice any protest Henri had grabbed her arm and both of them disappeared with a muted crack from the house.

Fleur felt slightly light headed and disoriented when they arrived in front of the school gates. She had not been prepared to be apparated by Henri, when he grabbed her and so the surprise had felt rather uncomfortable.

"Don't do this again..." Fleur huffed angrily. "You know I could have done it myself."

"Sorry, but I have given your mother my word to not let you apparate on your own this year." Henri said with a grin. "And we had to leave quickly. I just saw Gabrielle enter the room with what looked like paint jars."

"I feel sick now just because you wanted your uniform to remain clean?" Fleur asked astonished. "Just stop wearing white clothes and she will give up on troubling you. It was amusing in the beginning but now it is just annoying." She folded her arms in front of her chest to underline her statement as she frowned at the boy before her.

"Sorry, but I won't stop wearing my white uniform. Took me long enough to get the headmistress to permit me wearing a different color from all other students. I won't just stop because of Gabrielle." He straightened the white blazer of his school uniform just at that moment to emphasize his point.

Ever since his fifth year he had been wearing a white school uniform, instead of the usual light blue ones. All because of his image that he had created during his early dueling career. Only few understood why the headmistress allowed him to wear a white, but most people did not even really care about it.

"Hey, Flamel!" Someone suddenly called Henri from the other side of the school gate, in an attempt to get the boys attention; unfortunately this way he also drew quite a lot of attention to the boy. Henri frowned because of this, but he stayed when he saw one of the younger professors approach him and Fleur.

"Ah, Professor Baudin. Good day to you." He greeted the young man cordially.

"Good thing you are on time for a change. The headmistress asked me to send you to her office as soon as you arrive, so off you go."

Henri could only sigh, he had no idea why Maxime wanted to see him this early in the new year, but at least this explained why she had told him to be on time "Fine, fine. I will go. Not five minutes at school and already ordered to go and see the headmistress, that has to be a new record..." He muttered under his breath as he stalked away, leaving Fleur alone with the professor.

Fleur still felt a little sick, so she made no motion to follow her friend to the school building yet. But the professor saw her condition and looked worriedly at his student."Are you not feeling well, Ms Delacour? Do you need to see the school healer?"

"No need, professor. Just some aftereffects of some spontaneous apparating. Just give me some moments to gather myself." Fleur replied with an encouraging smile, though the professor looked rather unconvinced.

"If you say so, Ms Delacour. I shall take my leave then. Do not overdo it in your condition. Do not hesitate to see a healer." Without waiting for a reply Baudin turned around and left Fleur alone.

* * *

Henri smirked slightly, as he slowly walked through the long hallways of Beauxbatons palace. He loved his school and enjoyed the time he could spend here, especially since this would be his last year at the prestigious school. But this year there was also the added fact that he seemed to be the center of all attention, no matter where he was. Everywhere people started whispering, pointing at him to show him to others. He had always been famous. First because of his family name, then because of his exploits in the dueling arena.

The white marble halls of Beauxbatons were full of people; parents, siblings, friends and more; all there to say goodbye to the students. But some were also simply there to see the splendor and beauty of the school with their own eyes. Beauxbatons was more than just a simple school, it was a palace, a piece of art that rivaled the beauty of Versailles during the monarchs time of power.

And soon the other schools would come here. Henri had no doubts that the magnificent palace would leave them in awe once they would see it. He knew that Hogwarts was a rather dreary old castle, Albus had often described it as a living part of magical Britain's history; a suave circumscription for 'very old and backwater castle with little to no modern accommodations'.

He couldn't really say much about Durmstrang, both Tristan and Cassandra had always been rather tight lipped when it came to their school. Durmstrang's first and foremost rule was that you never talk about the school with outsiders, no matter how close you are to them. So all he knew, were the common rumors. A school so far north that it is cold for nearly the entire year. He couldn't really understand how students could stand something like that. Here in southern France it was warm, even during the winter the temperatures were usually bearable.

Both Hogwarts and Durmstrang students would enjoy it here at Beauxbatons, that much was assured. The younger years might even contemplate never leaving again, Henri thought with a slight laugh. Oh it would be such a blow to Albus pride, should some of his students decide to leave Hogwarts in favor of Beauxbatons.

But his musings were merely assumptions right now. It would be a little over a month before the other schools would come to Beauxbatons. Who knows how they would really react.

As he neared the door to the headmistress office he shook himself out of his thoughts, the curiosity what Madame Maxime would want from him was great at that very moment. Was this about his academic plans for this year? About any dueling competitions that would take place during the school year? Or would this be about the Triwizard Tournament?

He knocked twice on the large door to the office before he waited a reply. No one would enter the office without a prompt from the headmistress. It was simple courtesy to only enter when you were invited in. But there was no need to wait long as he heard the soft spoken words of the headmistress as she urged him to enter.

"Greetings, Headmistress Maxime. I hope you are still in good health." Henri greeted the older woman with an elegant bow.

"Ah, Henri. Courteous as always." The headmistress replied with a benevolent smile. "It is good to see that you for once listened to me and arrived on time. Maybe this is something you could continue? It would be refreshing to not get complaints about your constant lateness."

"We will have to wait and see. But you asked for me to come here, is there something you want from me so early in this year?"

"Yes, yes. Please take a seat, this may take a while." She gestured towards a chair in front of her desk and Henri promptly complied. "I assume that you know about the big event this year?"

"Indeed. Uncle Albus has informed me some weeks ago."

"Good, good. I assumed he would do that, considering how close you are to him." And just like she said, almost everyone knew that the young Flamel heir was close to Albus Dumbledore, a student of the famous light wizard no less. It only contributed to his fame amongst the majority of the students. "Any intention to join the Tournament as this school's champion?"

"I am sorry if this disappoints you, but I have decided against participating. I already have more fame than I want and the price money is no reason for me to participate. And quite frankly I am not the champion that this school deserves." Henri said with a rather stoic expression.

"Would you please elaborate on that? Why are you not the champion that this school deserves? You are a famous duelist, number two in your age group only beaten by the Grindelwald heir."

"My fame comes from my family name and my association with Albus Dumbledore. Should I participate, then people will say that all my skills come from the training my father and Uncle Albus have given me. None of it would be attributed to this school. We need a champion that shows what this school teaches to the younger generations. Someone who shows the superiority of our school's curriculum and teaching style."

"So much school pride... deferring just for such reasons, isn't that a bit... excessive." The headmistress asked with a raised eyebrow.

"We both know that the Triwizard Tournament is a competition between the schools and not between the students."

"True enough. But there will be more events then just the Tournament alone. An academic competition, a Quidditch Tournament with several teams for each school … and a dueling competition."

"Dueling? And I presume you want me to participate in that competition?" Henri asked amused.

"Not exactly. I want you to coach our participants. To teach them all they can not learn in the usual lessons. There are things you only learn with experience."

"That is possible I presume. But why do you wish to keep me out of this competition? After all I am a dueling champion." Henri said with a rather smug look.

"That is the problem. The other schools enforced some rules that prohibit professionals from participating in school competitions. So you are not allowed to join the dueling competition just like Victor Krum is barred from participating in the Quidditch Tournament."

Henri couldn't help but curse slightly under his breath. This dueling competition would have been the only interesting event for him in this entire Triwizard madness.

"I did not like this, but there had been concerns from both parents and school officials from both Hogwarts and Durmstrang. They believe that official duelists and Quidditch players are in a whole different league and that this way the competitions would be decided before they have even started."

"It is a coward's tactic. But I cannot change it." Henri shook his head in slight disappointment. "Oh well, is that all, headmistress?"

"One more thing. Once the guests from Hogwarts are here I want you to act as one of the two guides for our British guests. You are already close to headmaster Dumbledore, so I figured you would be the best candidate for this."

Henri looked rather unconvinced at the headmistress. Playing babysitter for the guests? He really had better things to do... he had hoped to have a relaxing year, not playing tour guide for some foreigners. Not to mention that this would mean to interact with his former family on a daily basis. Oh joy.

"I can't say that I am looking forward to that... duty. But I will do as I am told." Henri said with a sigh. It was obvious to Maxime that he was reluctant to do this, but she knew it was better not to pry for any information. She knew that he would inform her if there were any serious issues.

"You may go now. You will find your dorm room on your own I presume."

"Of course, headmistress. I will take my leave then." Henri said as he stood up and left quickly. He really did not like the things he had been told. But he knew that he could not change the decisions. Well he would just grin and bear it. At least he would meet Cassandra again, once that happened. That was something to look forward to.


	4. Chapter 4

While the final preparations for the schools welcoming feast had reached a nearly unbearable frenzy, Henri Flamel spent his time in his dorm room, away from the prying eyes of those he did not want to see at the moment. He tried to push his disappointment about his prospects for the Triwizard Tournament away as he unpacked his clothes and other belongings. But that was easier said than done. He somehow doubted that the entire ban from the dueling competition was the idea of Uncle Albus, no this wasn't his style. He wouldn't shy back from strong competition. So the only other group behind this could have been the Hogwarts Board of Governors. A group that has often interfered in places where they had no rights, at least according to what he had heard from his honorary uncle.

A knock on his door timely interrupted his musings before they could get too far. But a visitor was not what he needed or wanted right now.

"Open up, Henri. I know that you are in there! Don't make me come get you." came the mirthful exclamation from another boy outside of Henri's room.

"Get lost, Achille. I'm in no mood to deal with you right now." Henri whined exasperatedly. But it was no use, the boy was not deterred in the slightest and simply invited himself in. "I told you to go, why are you bothering me right now?"

"Ouch, Henri. Is that a way to treat your best friend?" Achille made a mock hurt expression, but his smirk betrayed the motion.

"Best friend? I only see you, is Fleur hiding behind you or something?" Henri asked with a raised eyebrow.

"You are so depressing..." huffed the other boy, "Well lets say your best buddy who is actually a dude."

"I'm not so sure about that dude part either to be truthful... you do look kind of feminine with your long hair and all..." Henri jested with a mirthful chuckle.

"That is so wrong in so many ways I don't even know whether I should be angry, offended or simply creeped out..." Achille shuddered at the words of his friend, a hand on his forehead as he shook his head to emphasize his feelings. "And shoulder length is not that long. Thierry has long hair, you know that girly dude that graduated last year."

"Don't remind me." Henri shuddered exaggeratedly at the memory. "So what do you want, Achille?"

"Can't I just come to say hello to a friend after not seeing him for nearly a month?"

"This isn't like you, Achille. This isn't the Achille Desmarais that I know; the boy who believes he is god's gift to all women on earth." Henri said with a laugh, causing Achille to frown. "Usually you should be stalking... pardon me, worshiping Céleste or something like that. Has she finally filed a complaint against you?"

"You are no fun at all, Henri." Whined Achille with a devastated look on his face. "The day will come that she will acknowledge me. No this year it will happen. I will get Céleste Benoit to see me as the person I truly am." He exclaimed loudly.

"Well you already managed to show her what kind of fool you are when you joined the music club in our third year. Never heard anyone sing that bad ever since." Henri replied with another laugh. Leave it to Achille to amuse him and cheer him up every single time they are together. "But really, Achille, why do you even bother with little Ms Perfect. That black haired angel has never cared for any boy in the last seven years. And she has that mean and quite feisty streak to her."

"You only say that because Fleur doesn't like her at all. You always take her side in every single disagreement."

"That is what best friends are for, Achille." Henri deadpanned.

When he heard that Achille made another mock dieing gesture before he let himself fall onto Henri's bed where he remained without any sign of movement.

"Get off my bed, Achille." Henri growled.

"Can't do. I'm dieing here, really. I always thought we are best friends, now I find out that you have replaced me with a chick..."

"Drama queen. Let's just say you are my second best friend and my best friend..."

"Without boobs..." Achille finished with a grin.

Henri could only sigh and exclaimed. "You are still an immature kid."

Both boys chuckled for some moments before they fell silent. Achille was still lying on the bed while Henri was still unpacking the last pieces of clothing from his trunk into the wardrobe.

"Henri?" Achille asked, this time with a rather serious tone. Henri only made a small sound to signal that he was listening, his back was still turned towards his friend. "Do have any plans for what to do once this year is over? Any long term plans for the future I mean."

"Well... I've got my mastery to work on. The one in combat magic will be a walk in the park with all the dueling experience, but the alchemy one... that will keep me busy for some more years."

"So you will continue being your father's apprentice?"

"Yup."

"I've got so no idea what to do with my life after school." Achille said almost tiredly. "I mean I am working towards my charm's mastery, but once I have that... Time's running out and I still have no plans for the future." He sighed dejectedly once he had finished speaking.

"Well, you've got an entire year to think of something. That is what the last is meant for anyways." Henri said.

"I thought about going to Britain to study further or something like that. But after that incident at the World Cup... If the Brits have another civil war I would rather not be involved in that."

"Yeah. Got to be suicidal to try anything there during such times." Henri agreed.

"Won't you help them? I mean you are close to Dumbledore and he was kind of important for the victory of the light side in their last war."

"I am close to him, but Uncle Albus knows that there is no way in hell that I would go to Britain. My place is here in France, why should I fight for foreign country?"

"Right." Achille agreed readily.

"Alright, enough of the depressing stuff." Henri exclaimed as he was finished unpacking. "Get up from my bed, Achille. Maybe we should get going to the welcoming feast, the headmistress will have my head should I be late." He held out his hand to help Achille stand up from the bed which the other boy took gladly.

"Well at least you are on time once this year. Maybe the professors won't hound you as much this year if you show up on time every now and then."

Henri let out a laugh when he heard that before he said: "No chance. You know my sleeping habits."

"Too true." Achille stated as the two friends left Henri's room and headed towards the dining-hall of Beauxbatons.

On their way they met up with Fleur and some other acquaintances, all of them heading to the same place. The dining-hall of Beauxbatons was a breathtaking sight as usual. Being one of the biggest rooms in the entire palace the hall was solely used for mealtimes. Its unobtrusive decoration and the large windows that allowed a wonderful view on the magnificent gardens of the school were always a sight to behold.

The numerous round tables in the hall were filling quickly with the students of all seven years. The young first years had been placed on the tables nearest to the large head table for the teachers so they would hear everything the headmistress had to say on their first day at the school. A tradition that no one could really explain, not that anyone cared either way.

"Hoho, just look at the teachers this year. Looking like that cat that got the canary. Something fishy is going on!" Achille concluded with a triumphant smirk.

"Oh, so you haven't been told, Achille?" Fleur asked with a haughty tone that would surely annoy the boy.

"Told what? Did I miss some memo?"

"Poor little Achille, doesn't even know..."

"Fleur. Be nice." Henri chastised with a smirk. The quarter-Veela huffed a bit but remained silent after that.

"Seriously, Henri, did I miss something important?" Achille asked almost scandalized. Several others at their table listened as well. It was obvious that not many had been told beforehand. Oh the benefits of knowing important people.

"You will know in a few moments, Achille. It is nothing you should have known before today anyways." Henri replied cryptically while he watched the teachers carefully.

"Seriously, what are you two hiding from us?"

"Be silent and listen." Fleur snapped slightly annoyed because of Achille's attitude.

Moments later the entire hall became silent. Not one student was speaking a word as the headmistress had stood up to start her speech. No one would speak or interrupt her, their lessons in etiquette and the general respect they head for Olympe Maxime demanded that of them.

"Honored students of Beauxbatons, it is my greatest pleasure to welcome you all back to another year at this academy. And I also greet our numerous first years who start their journey into adulthood here in our midst." The large woman spoke with a warm smile as she looked at her students.

She loved her school and was proud of all the students that had decided to come here instead of other schools that were available in Europe. It was her personal victory that Beauxbatons attracted students from almost every European country, something that neither Durmstrang nor Hogwarts could claim. The pride that came with that regularly showed whenever she spoke to her students like she did at that moment.

"Once more we begin a school year to learn and grow, to understand and to create. But this year will be different from all other years you have spent at this school. It is Beauxbatons greatest honor to be able to organize the first Triwizard Tournament in over two hundred years." Maxime announced with great pride palpable in her voice.

Henri quickly zoned out, already knowing all that the headmistress had to say about this topic. He just hoped she would be done soon so they could finally start eating, he was hungry, he had not eaten anything since his late breakfast.

"You two knew about this before!" Came the whisper of Achille as he looked scandalized at Henri and Fleur.

"Yes." Henri replied almost mechanically.

"Uncle Albus?" Achille asked next.

"Yep. But even if he had remained quiet I would have heard it from the headmistress before anyone else."

"So that is why she wanted to see you as soon as you arrived." Fleur stated as she watched Henri curiously. "Has she already appointed you as our school champion?"

"Nope. I told her that I wouldn't compete for some reasons that I won't divulge here in public." He looked pointedly at Achille. "But I got other duties."

"Oh really?"

"Yeah. Babysitting the Hogwarts students and training the duelists from our school."

"You don't want to join that dueling competition?" Fleur asked confused.

"I am not allowed to. Professionals are apparently too strong for a normal competition. The other schools are too scared of me."

"That sucks. How are we supposed to dominate the dueling part now?" Achille cursed slightly miffed by what Henri had said.

"He will train our students, idiot. You didn't listen till the end... again." Fleur said condescendingly towards Achille. "But what did you mean by babysitting the Hogwarts students?"

"Due to my friendship with Uncle Albus I have been appointed as the guide and liaison for the guests from Scotland. Someone is supposed to help me with that but I didn't really ask who would get that ungrateful chore." Henri muttered disapprovingly. "Oh let's eat and get this evening over with. I felt sleepy... since I woke up this morning."

* * *

It was a few days into September when Henri had finally found his usual rhythm and started following his new duties seriously. Much to his teachers' disappointment he had not managed getting out of bed on time even once since he had returned to school, but after six years no one expected him to really change his ways now.

Lessons had been a rather laid-back experience this year, the few lessons that he still attended were more like assisted self study lessons, not that any of the seventh years would mind that after six harsh years of academic peak performances. Unlike other schools Beauxbatons crammed all the things they wanted to teach into six instead of the usual seven years of education. All with the intention to allow the students one last year to fully prepare for their lives after they had left the school.

But this year most students were easily tempted to slack off with their studies in favor of preparing for the Triwizard Tournament. The news that Henri would not enter any of the competitions spread quickly in the entire school and caused many students who would not have bothered with the Tournament to entertain thoughts of competing and winning the prestigious Tournament. Everywhere students could be seen training or studying those things they deemed important for the great event. The schools quidditch teams were almost in a frenzy as they tried to train as much as possible. With the Triwizard Tournament at their school they all wanted to win no matter what.

Another group that was overeager were the duelist hopefuls that gathered three times a week to learn the finer aspects of competitive dueling from Henri. It was bothersome for the young Flamel, but all students loved his lessons more then the usual education from the professors of the school.

"No, no. Dupont, stop fiddling around with your wand as if it is an overgrown bat. With those overbearing motions you are more likely to poke your eyes out before you finish even one spell." Henri said, as he grabbed the arm of a seventh year student. The boy looked embarrassed by Henri's words as some others around him chuckled at his expense.

Since it was a sunny and warm day the entire group had decided to use one of the large green fields of the large school garden for their training. The additional room they had here minimized the risks that the wannabe duelists could hurt each other. But sadly it also invited an even greater audience.

"Henri, why don't you show us some useful spells just this once. Come on, we are all ready to learn something flashy and powerful." Achille complained with a bored tone as he walked over to Henri.

"Currently half of you are not even ready to wield a wand in a fight without maiming themselves. And the other half can barely react to anything. I won't teach you anything that could harm you as long as you still suck at the basics." Henri said matter of factly, much to the disappointment of his pupils. But at least some of them acknowledged that he only did this for their own safety.

Achille let his head hang for a moment when he heard the harsh evaluation from his friend. "Then how about something non lethal. Like that special skill of yours."

"You actually want to learn the Mirage spell?" Henri asked doubtfully.

"Yeah, can't be that hard, right? And it cannot harm anyone so we can practice it without posing a danger to anyone."

All other students looked at Henri with anticipation. The Mirage spell was something that Henri had created by himself. A special technique that had helped him win countless duels. But so far he had stubbornly refused to teach anyone. But now some hoped that he would change his mind for the sake of his schools victory in the Tournament.

"Forget it, Achille." All hope was futile once more. "I won't help others to see through my special skills so they can beat me in the future. Get your ass up and develop something on your own, it isn't that hard." Henri took great pride in his self created spells. Though he had the guidance of two great wizards to thank for his breakthrough, it was still his creation and something that he decided to keep as a family secret.

Achille groaned loudly when he heard that. "Easy to say when you have two legendary people help you with that."

"Okay, everyone. We make a ten minute break before we continue with some physical exercises. All of you are in a sorry shape. Now get your asses moving."

Begrudgingly the students left the field; those who would continue training mostly to change their clothes, the spectators to find some other pastime. Those who trained under Henri's tutelage learned fast what kind of taskmaster the young Flamel can be, but they still had a lot of fun during the training.

Fleur had watched Henri's latest lesson from a balcony of the school as she watched with great amusement how her fellow seventh years fared under her best friends guidance. She couldn't help but chuckle every time he would bellow something at a student. Or when he stalked around the entire group like a predator waiting for some weak prey to show itself. It was amusing, especially since she knew that Henri used these lessons to vent his own anger at being barred from entering the dueling competition of the Tournament.

"My, my. The young Master Flamel sure is busy again." The soft spoke exclamation came from another person that had joined Fleur on the balcony when the part-Veela wasn't paying any attention to her surroundings.

"Oh, it is you. Is there a reason why you bother me, Benoit?" Fleur growled. There was no reason to hide it, if there was one person in the school that Fleur outright loathed then it was Céleste Benoit. She couldn't help herself, but something was always very odd about this girl. She wasn't human, that much was obvious. Some students had once described her as too pretty to be human. Her entire appearance and especially her oddly amethyst colored eyes gave her an almost otherworldly appearance.

Céleste merely giggled in response to Fleur's words. "Oh my, your social skills are still as atrocious as ever, Delacour. I really wonder how someone like Henri can stand being near you all the time."

"Do you want something or are you here merely to piss me off?" Fleur asked angrily.

"I am merely here to do the same as you do. Watch our schools greatest student as he does his duty for Beauxbatons." She gave Fleur a sweet smile that aggravated Fleur even further then her words.

"Just what do you want from Henri? Stay away from him. He has no use for some pretty face songbird. He needs people with real talents around him."

"Then what are you doing around him all the time? My memory might be lacking, but I am sure that setting his clothes on fire every time he does something that you don't like isn't really helpful. Nor is it a talent." Céleste said slowly, condescension dripping from every word. "For years you have blocked all my attempts to befriend Henri, but this year you will fail, Delacour."

"You can try, but I won't let you near him, Benoit."

Céleste merely laughed at Fleur's response. "Oh you have already lost, Delacour. After all how will you stop me from talking to him during our shared duty for this school."

"What do you mean by 'shared duty'?" Fleur asked angrily.

"Oh my, haven't they told you? Henri and I will both act as liaison for the Hogwarts students. We will need to spend many hours together, time that you can't prevent us from spending together. Your petty jealousy won't bother me this year."

"You do know that Henri already has a girl, don't you?" Fleur asked with a deep frown.

"And it isn't you." Stated Céleste almost gleefully. "The two of you never really fit together. But alas it is of no importance to you what kind of relationship I aspire with Henri. Maybe it is just friendship I want. A friendship that you have deprived me of for years."

"You are not trustworthy enough to be around someone like Henri. You hide to much, Benoit. I won't let people like you anywhere near him." Fleur exclaimed through clenched teeth. Oh how much she wished to set that annoying girl on fire. One little fireball and Benoit wouldn't bother her again for a long time. But she couldn't do that, the headmistress and her parents would punish her severely for something like that. A pity, really.

"That is your opinion, Delacour. Henri will be the one to decide who is worthy of his friendship." With these words and one last condescending smile Céleste left the balcony.

Fleur watched fuming as the other girl left, muttering curses under her breath as she replayed the conversation with Céleste in her head. She couldn't help scowl when she remembered the other girl's taunts. But what angered her more was the fact that for some reason the headmistress had chosen Benoit to help Henri with the Brits. This wouldn't end well, Fleur was sure of it.


	5. Chapter 5

One week was left. One week of calm and peace before the guests would arrive and with them the chaos and excitement of the Triwizard Tournament. Henri couldn't help but feel restless when he thought about what was to come. He had his hands full with his self imposed schoolwork and his lessons for the schools wannabe duelists, a stressful schedule no doubt. But the worst was yet to come, playing the guide for the Hogwarts students. He already knew that this duty would be a great annoyance for this entire year.

And that particular duty lead to his current visit to the headmistress office. But this time he wasn't alone with headmistress Maxime, no this time he was accompanied by one Céleste Benoit, the schools resident idol and one of the greatest conundrums that Henri had ever encountered.

Fleur hated this girl with a passion that Henri had seldom seen in the Veela, but she never told him why. But for the sake of their friendship he kept his distance from Benoit. He was friendly, well mostly cordial with her whenever he encountered her, but never payed her much attention. And then there was Benoit's strange behavior whenever he was near. He mysterious smile whenever she looked at him and the glint in her eyes that he seemed to recognize but couldn't tell where from. She was... odd, yet she was very popular in the entire school. She puzzled Henri, but he never attempted to resolve this mystery for the sake of his friendship with Fleur.

And now she sat next to him, a strange smile on her lips as she listened to the headmistress explanations for the next weeks schedule. Oh Henri could already feel the headache he would get from Fleur's tantrum once she heard about this. She had been in a bad mood for days and this would definitely not help with that.

"Once the Hogwarts students arrive you will move towards them and greet them. Be polite and show them the charm of Beauxbatons." The headmistress instructed strictly. It was obvious that she would not accept anything less then perfection in front of the guest schools. It was a matter of school pride.

"Shall we lead them directly to the Hall of Mirrors for the reception, headmistress?" Céleste asked with her usual soft voice.

"No, after greeting them you will lead them to me. I will be waiting in front of the palace with the rest of the students to greet our guests after their arrival. Once both Hogwarts and Durmstrang have arrived we all will move towards the Hall together."

Henri looked at the papers in his hand, the detailed plan for the entire first day when the guests would arrive. A very detailed plan. "Isn't this all a bit much? You even described the exact words we are supposed to say as a greeting..." Henri said with a long sigh.

"Everything must be perfect, Mr Flamel." Maxime said pointedly. Henri couldn't help shake his head in exasperation. The headmistress was absolutely serious about this. It was obvious when she called him Mr Flamel instead of his first name. She only did that when she was either angry with him or whenever she meant to subtly tell him that she won't allow any discussion of a topic.

"Fine, but I still believe that we should be more natural. This act will look painfully forced." Henri commented idly as he tried to ignore the headmistress pointed look. "I'm a duelist, not an actor."

"A pity you never joined acting classes, they were a lot of fun and would have been very beneficial for this occasion." Céleste said with a mirthful smile as she looked at him.

Henri raised an eyebrow in disbelieve. "I have always preferred a more hands on approach to things, hence why I decided to start dueling instead of wast... spending my time on art oriented subjects."

"A pity, really. The audience would have grown exponentially. You have always been quite popular, Henri." Céleste said with a bashful smile. "We could have had so much fun."

"A pity. But I have no regrets." Henri replied with a smirk.

The headmistress watched the exchange quietly for some moments before she made her presence known with a polite cough. This finally ended the exchange between the two seventh year students and redirected their attention towards the headmistress.

"As much as I enjoy it when my students get along this nicely, there are still some things that have to be done before our guests arrival next Friday." Maxime said with a small smile of her own.

"More directions?" Henri asked quickly.

"No, Mr Flamel. More like simple guidelines for the day after the arrival. After the reception the two of you will lead our guests to the guest quarters in the dorms. The day after the arrival the two of you will lead our guests to the dining hall and give them a tour through the palace. Be polite and answer all reasonable questions."

"And after that we are free?" Henri asked with a hopeful expression.

"You will still be the main contact for our British guests whenever they have a problem or questions. Sadly only a small minority of our guests is able to speak French and translation charms are only slightly helpful. So I am sure that you will be asked for help quite often."

"There are more students then just the two of us that can speak English in this school." Henri huffed annoyed.

"Just deal with it, Henri. The Englishmen love glory and will use whatever excuse they can find to be near you so even should I give your job to someone else, they will hound you anyways. At least this way you will officially represent our school and think a bit more about your manners." The headmistress said matter of factly, surprising Céleste with her bluntness and sudden familiarity to the student.

"As you wish." Henri replied courtly, slightly miffed about being scolded again.

"Good. I think we are done for today. We will meet once more before next Friday to finalize our preparations." Maxime looked pointedly at Henri, then she looked less sternly at Céleste before motioned for both students to leave.

Now that he was finally free of the boring meeting Henri could finally breath a relieved sigh. Oh he knew the headmistress would be angry with him no matter what he did in front of the guests so the first thing he did was getting rid of the instructions as quick as possible. What could really go wrong, he would be with his surrogate uncle and Uncle Albus would keep his students in line.

"You and the headmistress are surprisingly familiar with each other. There are a lot of rumors, but this was unexpected."

Henri groaned slightly. He had forgotten that Céleste was still there with him. Now how could he get rid of her, before Fleur would see them, without being a total ass towards Céleste?

"I've spent a lot of time in her presence due to my extracurricular activities. She has shown me a lot of leeway and made a lot of concessions for me. You could say that we are slightly closer then normal students and their headmasters." Henri conceded with a weary voice. "Oh well, I will go and take a nap somewhere, see you later Céleste." He hoped he could quickly leave without a response from the girl, but his luck was not with him that day as it seemed.

"Wait, Henri. I hoped we could talk a little more. Even though we have been classmates for over six years we barely know each other... I really hoped that we could change that. Especially with our shared duty it would be better to know each other..." Céleste spoke with slight trepidation, so unlike her usual cheerful demeanor. She seemed almost … bashful.

_Oh shit._ Henri thought when he heard that.  _I so don't have the time for something like this. Fleur would kill me and I don't even want to think about what Cassandra would do to me should she believe that I have another girl in every city._

"Listen, Céleste, I don't think that this is … wise. I am really busy and all..." Oh he wanted to hit himself for not coming up with some better excuse. He had nothing against this girl, but unlike others he was not interested in her.

"This is because of Delacour, am I right?" Céleste asked with a sad frown. "She told you to stay away from me."

"Céleste..."

"No, no. By all means go back to that conniving, surreptitious Veela and let her dictate your life." Henri sighed deeply when he heard that. This was not looking good for him. There was no denying it that a major reason for his behavior was Fleur, but there was also the fact that he was not interested in the advances of another girl right now. But he was astonished that even though he knew about the mutual dislike between Fleur and Céleste, the girls words about Fleur missed any hateful edge he would have expected.

"This isn't just about Fleur. I am just not interested in any new relationships right now." He said matter of factly.

"Is that what you think I am after? That I am one of those hussies that run after you because of your fame." Now her tone became darker, angrier as she glared at the baffled boy before her. "All I wanted is to be on good terms with you, finding a friend, but I see that I was mistaken. It is better for the both of us to remain only cordial."

_Oh I hate my luck. I really need to think more about what I am about to say before I speak... But first I have to apologize to Céleste. Just why do part-human girls have to be so emotional!_  Henri thought helplessly as he saw the girl turn her back to him and leave. He felt like an ass at that moment, not seeing the smirk that graced Céleste's lips the moment he could no longer see her face.

But Henri knew that at the moment there wasn't much he could do. It would be better for him to let her cool down first before he tried to approach Céleste again. He did not know exactly what kind of part-human the girl was, but judging by the reactions he got from upset part-veelas, he was not really looking forward to finding it out. Fireball throwing Veelas were dangerous enough.

* * *

The week passed rather quickly. Much too quickly in Henri's opinion. But there was nothing he could do as he stood up on the day that the guest schools would arrive. He had tried to talk to Céleste after his blunder during their last conversation, but the girl had been rather cool towards him. Cordial whenever others were near them, but otherwise she tended to ignore him, much to his growing exasperation. He had hoped to at least resolve this headache before the arrival of Hogwarts and Durmstrang, especially before Cassandra's arrival, but no luck so far. Little did he know that this was exactly Céleste's intention.

In a sour mood Henri trailed through the school towards the dining hall for breakfast. He really hoped that seeing Cassandra today would lift his mood. Well he could only hope.

"Good morning, Henri." Fleur greeted her friend happily. "Ready for your big day?"

"Very funny. You know how much I would give to pass my duties on to you right now. Let's see if you would still laugh if it was you who has to deal with the Brits." Henri replied darkly.

"Relax, Henri. A few more hours and you will be reunited with your sweetheart. Everything will be better once she is here." Fleur said with a wicked gleam in her eyes, fully knowing what her words could cause should the wrong people hear them. The gossip and rumor mill would run wild before the breakfast was over.

"Speaking of her, who will greet the Durmstrang delegation?" Fleur asked with an innocent look as she saw his frown.

"Iris and Benedikt as far as I know. They at least speak German and Russian to some degree so they are the best choice." Henri replied before he started eating his breakfast.

Some time later Achille joined them at their table with a tired look on his face. "Morning you two." He yawned loudly. "Henri... why haven't you woken me up, breakfast time is nearly over now..."

"I am not an alarm clock, Achille." Henri stated with a smirk, "A pity that you missed the breakfast, it was very delicious this morning."

"So mean..." Achille said after another yawn. "And I simply overslept because I was so excited about today."

"Only someone like you would get excited over the arrival of other students, Achille." Fleur said with a laugh. "They are just students."

"Yeah, but the Triwizard Tournament arrives with them!"

"They won't pick the champions for another week, Achille. The Tournament won't start before that." Fleur corrected the boy. By now Achille was throwing Fleur dirty looks whenever she opened her mouth to speak.

"Do you think there will be some pretty birds among those guests, Henri?"

"I neither know, nor do I care, Achille. Don't bother me with such trivial matters today." Henri grunted in annoyance.

"Of course there are some pretty girls, Achille." Fleur said with a mirthful grin. "One especially among the Durmstrang students."

"Oh really?" Achille was suddenly wide awake and listening to Fleur.

"Yes, yes. A blonde, I heard you like blondes." By now Henri was looking threateningly at Fleur, daring her to continue. But the part-Veela merely smirked at him. "But there is one problem you would have to overcome."

"What kind of problem? There is nothing I can't do!" Achille exclaimed self assured.

"You will have to live with Henri as your competition for her affections." Fleur finally said.

"No problem. I will... wait! What did you say?" By now Fleur had started laughing boisterously. Henri, who sat next to them was torn between throttling either Fleur or neutering Achille before he could even consider going near Cassandra.

"Oh relax, Henri. I was only making a joke. You are far too tense today."

Henri remained silent, unwilling to dignify Fleur's words with any response. Achille, too, was quiet now. Processing what he had heard moments before. Henri was obviously interested in a girl from Durmstrang. That was big news. Henri could have half of the schools female population if he wanted to, but he has never shown much interest in any of his fan girls. Now Achille finally knew why.

The silence continued for some minutes, a tense air hanging over the table of the three friends. No one was ready to speak until Achille got bored again and decided to break the silence. "Say, Henri, how will our guests arrive? Have you heard anything about that? Surely they will try to make a flashy entrance."

"They will arrive through the main gate like any other person, Achille. Just think about it, we are far too close to muggle settlements to allow anything too flashy. You can see the lights of Cannes when you look out of your dorm room at night. Hogwarts may be hidden somewhere in the Scottish Highlands and Durmstrang somewhere in the Scandinavian wilderness, but we are in the middle of a populated area."

"Guess you're right..." Achille said before he let out a dejected sigh. "But won't that be a problem for the entire Tournament then?"

"It sets limits, but you don't have to sic dragons or manticores on students to provide an entertaining competition. We have enough other very challenging places here."

"It will be a lot of fun, no matter what." Fleur assured with a smile.

"Yes, now please excuse me, I have to go to the headmistress for the last minute preparations." Henri said as he stood up from the table and walked towards the exit that headmistress Maxime had used only minutes earlier.

Hours later Henri and Céleste walked slowly towards the gates of the school to greet the guests that were scheduled to arrive any minute now. Just like the days before, Céleste remained silent towards Henri, much to his rising exasperation.

"Don't you think that you have made your point sufficiently clear with your cold treatment." Henri finally asked her when he couldn't take the silence any longer.

"Whatever do you mean?" She asked back with her usual cold attitude.

"I am well aware that my words were ill chosen and I have already apologized for my actions several times. Just what else do you want to finally quit this annoying cold attitude. We still have to work together for some more time and I would prefer us to be on good terms while doing that."

"Your words were not just ill chosen, Henri. They were hurtful. The other male students, like your friend Desmarais, only lust after me because of my looks, none of them are interested in me as a person. I once thought you were different, Henri. But I was obviously wrong about that." She replied scathingly.

"I am really sorry if you think that I would reduced you to nothing more than a pretty face. Dammit Fleur and Cassandra would probably neuter me should they believe that I disrespect any girl."

"Who's Cassandra?"

"Cassandra Grindelwald, a very close friend of mine who will arrive with the Durmstrang students." Henri said. He saw this as a positive sign that Céleste actually talked to him more then the few necessary words.

"Your girlfriend perhaps? Is that the reason why you reacted so... disagreeable when I asked you to spend more time with me?" Céleste couldn't hide her curiosity about this particular topic. Henri's love life or more precisely the lack of it had been a very popular topic with the girls of Beauxbatons. Was this girl possibly the reason why Henri didn't look for a girlfriend at his school.

"Girlfriend? Huh, I doubt that she would give me a clear answer should I ask her. But we are very close, closer than her brother likes us to be." At that last part he couldn't help himself but smirk mischievous.

"You know, this explains quite a lot about you." Céleste commented with a contemplative look on her face.

"Does this mean that this cold attitude towards me is over now, Céleste."

"Maybe. But I want you to introduce me to the girl that managed the unthinkable. Oh so many hearts will break the moment the girls hear that the White Paladin of Beauxbatons has been conquered by a girl from another school." She giggled at his horrified look when she mentioned his fan girls. "But you know, it makes a lot of sense. Our invincible Paladin has been bested by a Grindelwald in combat and conquered by a Grindelwald when it comes to love. That family seems to be your only weakness."

"I really thought I would never have to hear this topic again. Fleur teased me with this for a long time after she found out about me and Cassandra." Henri let out a weary sigh. "Don't be angry when I say it, but you and Fleur are very much alike in some ways. I really wonder why you hate each others guts."

"No comment. Now be careful, our guests should arrive any minute. The headmistress will be displeased should we mess up her meticulous plans."

"Ah don't fret it so much." Henri said with a dismissive wave of his hand.

When they finally arrived at the gate they were not the first to arrive. The other two students that were ordered to greet the Durmstrang group were already there, pacing impatiently as they waited for their guests to arrive.

"Jo, Henri, finally felt the urge to grace us with your presence." The male student of the duo, Benedikt, called out when he saw his two classmates arrive.

"You know me, Benedikt. I am always right at the center of the attention, whether I want to or not." Henri replied with a chuckle. "Any signs of our esteemed guests?"

"Nope. But they should arrive any minute now." Benedikt exclaimed excitedly. "Can't wait to meet Victor Krum. This will be so awesome."

"Quidditch nut job." Henri muttered with a small shake of his head. He liked flying, but he never shared the almost religious Quidditch fan worship that some of the other students had. It just wasn't his sport. And to him Krum was just another student and possible rival for the Beauxbatons champion.

All four Beauxbatons students waited in silent for some time. There had never been an exact time frame for the arrival of Durmstrang and Hogwarts delegation's merely the day and an approximate time, but nothing concrete. All Henri and his classmates could do was wait. And he hated wasting time.

But to the relief of everyone their guests finally arrived after another ten minutes of waiting. In fact the first to arrive were the Durmstrang students; one by one or in small groups with younger students they arrived via apparition. One of the last to arrive was finally the High Master Igor Karkaroff, a sour look on the man's face as he was approached by two of the Beauxbatons students.

Henri looked around, hoping to see Cassandra among the arrivals. But he could not see her. There were not many Durmstrang student's to begin with, it was obvious that they had already made their own decisions for their champion and other representatives. But among all those foreign children there was not a single blond girl. For a moment Henri felt disappointed, his mood quickly turning for the worse. But then he saw her, a late arrival, obviously much to the displeasure of Karkaroff. But she was there. Cassandra Grindelwald had arrived at Beauxbatons.

She seemed to be a bit disoriented at first, the long range apparition obviously not one of her favorite forms of traveling. Once she had regained her wits she looked around, searching looks to see what and who was around her. This was when she saw Henri standing a bit away from her group, him smiling at her with obvious happiness in his eyes. A happiness that matched her own when saw him. But sadly for her there was no time to go over to him, her own group was already leaving, following their guides towards the palace. Only reluctantly Cassandra followed them, but she knew that there would be many more chances to meet now that she was here, at his school, for the rest of this school year.

"Is that her?" Céleste asked Henri with great interest as she saw the looks he exchanged with Cassandra.

"What?"

"That blond girl, is that Cassandra Grindelwald? Or are there more blond girls among the Durmstrang students that you look at with such a lovesick expression?"

"I am not looking at anyone with a lovesick expression. And yes, that was Cassandra and I would very much appreciate it if you would not talk to anyone else about what I have told you here." Henri said, his arms crossed over his chest, his face showing a displeased frown.

"If you say so." Céleste replied with a mock bored expression. "But heads up, now is our time to shine, Henri." And just as she said that something happened near them.

A small flame appeared on the ground. It grew bigger and bigger until the flame had become a blazing fire. But it grew even more, bigger and bigger before it suddenly took shape before it exploded into a large flare. Henri had moved between the flame and Céleste to cover her in case of an explosion, but when the fire really hit him it was nothing like he had expected it. It was not burning hot, it didn't hurt. It was mildly warm, gentle, like a comforting touch.

And then just before them the fire finally took shape. First the shape of one bearded man, then many others, all connected with their hands on the shoulder of the one before them. One giant group, arriving together. Then the fire died down, much faster then it had appeared before. All it left behind was a large group of adults and students. All of them lead by one Albus Dumbledore who had his Phoenix sitting on his shoulder.

"Flashy. Not what I had expected, Uncle Albus." Henri exclaimed with a laugh as he approached the old wizard at the front of the newly arrived group. Céleste followed him closely, looking rather uncomfortable at the moment.

She elbowed Henri in the side when she heard his rather informal greeting for the Hogwarts Headmaster. "Henri, this is not what the headmistress has ordered us to say..." She hissed quietly at him.

"Relax, Céleste. You wanted to get to know me, so now you learn that I have a very good relation to Albus Dumbledore." Henri replied happily. A happiness that quickly vanished when he saw the man next to Dumbledore.

"Henri, my boy, it is good to see you. You are here as escort, I suppose?" The old wizard said as he moved towards the white clad student and gave him a brief, but friendly hug as greeting.

"Yes. The rest of the school and the other guests are waiting in front of the palace for your arrival." Henri replied. "We, Céleste and I, are merely here to greet you and lead you there."

"Ah, thank you, Henri, Céleste." He gave the girl that stood slightly behind Henri a friendly nod, seeing that Céleste seemed slightly puzzled by the situation and the overly friendly greeting of the headmaster and Henri.

"Is your group complete, Uncle Albus?" Again Henri spoke to one of the supposedly most powerful wizards with a sense of familiarity that surprised especially the Hogwarts students.

"Yes, yes." The old wizard looked around for a moment, then two men and a woman stepped towards him. "Ah, Henri, those are the Hogwarts professors that have come along. Our flying instructor and Quidditch Coach, Rolanda Hooch..." He gestured towards a gray haired woman that eyed him with her piercing, yellow eyes.

"And this is our schools defense professor, Alastor Moody" He then gestured towards a heavily scared man with a wildly spinning artificial eye. Henri knew about Moody. During his training with Dumbledore he had heard more then one story about the man's exploits during the last war. But seeing him now in person, Henri couldn't help himself, but feel weary in his presence.

Now the old headmaster continued on, though with obvious hesitation as he went to introduce the last teacher that had come with him. "And this... this is James Potter, our schools dueling instructor. I am sure you have heard of him before." The old wizard watched slightly anxiously as former father and son met each other for the first time in over a decade. Would James recognize the son he had kicked out as a small child? What would Henri do now? This wasn't the kind of situation he would have wanted, but it was an inevitable meeting. At least it happened outside of Britain, Henri was safer here even should James recognize him.

"Ah, so you are this famous Flamel boy. They say that you are a prodigy at dueling, I am looking forward to seeing the truth behind that." James said smugly as he held his hand out for Henri to shake.

"Sadly for you that won't happen. Your country made sure that I won't participate in the dueling competition. Not that I could blame them after the pathetically trained duelists that have come from your school in the last few years." Henri replied with a challenging smirk. When he took the offered hand to shake it both wizards tried to stare each other down. James looked obviously displeased by Henri's words and criticism about the training of Hogwarts students.

"Ahem." Dumbledore tried to get the attention of the two wizards. Though he was happy that James had apparently not realized who stood before him, the tense situation was still rather unpleasant for everyone. Céleste looked slightly uncomfortable, since she had no idea what she should do now. All the while it was obvious that she dreaded the headmistress scolding, once she found out that they had not followed her protocol.

"Well, I guess it is time for us to head towards the palace." Céleste tried to diffuse the situation by reminding Henri why they were here in the first place. "The headmistress must be waiting for our return." She especially stressed the word headmistress when she looked at Henri. The boy in question finally released James' hand and turned to his current partner.

"Guess you are right. She would be displeased if I waste time with unimportant things like this." He smirked slightly at James as he called him unimportant, something that obviously displeased the man greatly. Only an admonishing look from Dumbledore stopped James from a biting remark of his own, much to Henri's satisfaction. "Alright, please follow us, we will bring you now to the reception in front of our school." Henri said loudly as he faced the entire Hogwarts delegation.

Henri and Céleste walked ahead the large group towards the Beauxbatons palace. When the Hogwarts students saw the building for the first time, many of them let out sounds of awe and even some jealous exclamations, when some students compared it to their own castle. Henri couldn't help but smile, he was obviously proud of his school.

Albus was walking next to Henri the entire time, looking slightly worried about the situation before."Henri, was it really necessary to antagonize James like this? I thought you would try to keep your distance from him." He said quietly so only the boy next to him would hear.

"I really wanted to ignore him at first. But this kind of arrogance... it just brought back old memories. I can't help but dislike this man. After what he has done to me and the way he shows up here with that smug grin of his. You said he has changed since back then. I can't see any change." Henri replied with a frown.

"Just don't do anything that you might regret later, Henri." The old wizard admonished gently.

"Don't worry. Only today and tomorrow then I can ignore him for the remainder of the year. And I fully intend to stay away from that man, that I can assure you." Albus merely nodded to these words. He knew that this would most likely be the best solution. And with luck it would also keep James from recognizing Henri as his former son. Once this year was over Henri would be officially of age and James would never see him again. Everyone would be better off this way.

Unbeknownst to them the old headmaster and the young duelist were under the constant scrutiny of many students around them. Céleste watched them with great curiosity, but decided against getting closer to eavesdrop. She would find a way to get Henri to tell her everything on his own. Among the Hogwarts students the curiosity was even greater; to see their illustrious headmaster chat with one of the most famous boy's of his age group as if they were family surprised them. It was common knowledge that Albus Dumbledore had trained the son of Nicolas Flamel, but they always assumed that it was more of a student teacher relation that connected the two. But apparently the old Hogwarts headmaster was a closer friend to the Flamel family and its scion then anyone had predicted.


	6. Chapter 6

"Good morning everyone. Today we will have a short orientation for all of you, before we will lead you to the dining hall for a late breakfast. We, as in Céleste and I, will show you the most important places in this school and answer questions. Please pay attention to what we tell you, we will not have the time to repeat this orientation." Henri exclaimed loudly as the Hogwarts students assembled in the common room of the dorms assigned to them for their time at Beauxbatons.

"What Henri tried to say in his gruff, but lovable way, is that we won't be able to go over this again and again. So please if you have questions ask them now, when we are here to answer them. From tomorrow on you are expected to find your way through the school on your own." Céleste said with a soft voice and her usual bright expression that gained her a lot of attention, mostly from the male half of the Hogwarts group.

Henri though looked a bit exasperated by her words about him. He was grumpy for a reason. He wasn't really a morning person, especially when he was forced to wake up too early. And he didn't really like to do this, but he had his orders.

"Where are Headmaster Dumbledore and our teachers? Won't they join us this morning?" One Hogwarts student, a girl with black hair and green eyes, asked worriedly.

"Your headmaster and teachers are already heaving breakfast with our headmistress and the rest of the faculty, followed by discussion about the plans for the next few weeks." Henri replied.

"Anyways, please follow us, I am sure you all want to get to your breakfast as soon as possible." Henri said with a less gruff voice. He couldn't really hide that this task was not one of his favorite pastimes, it was obvious that he disliked being here when he had so much else to do. But none the less he had to do his duty, else the headmistress would cause him a lot of trouble.

Slowly the group moved through the long hallways of the school, explaining the routes to all major classrooms and other places of interest. It pleased Henri to see the guests look at his school with awe and some even with slight envy. Beauxbatons students had a reputation for being slightly arrogant in comparison to the students of other schools, Henri couldn't deny that it was true for some of his classmates, but most of them only showed their great pride in their school. Beauxbatons is after all one of the best and most famous European magical schools for a reason.

"Beauxbatons has a proud history that started with the schools founding in the early thirteenth century. Ever since then, the school has educated the most gifted students that hailed from France's magical families. Originally the school was housed in an old castle, similar to Hogwarts, but that changed when the original school was destroyed during a war in the eighteenth century. The school was rebuild after the model of Versailles and was henceforth opened to students from all of Europe to promote cooperation of the magical nations, to prevent wars like the one that had initially lead to the destruction of the old castle." Henri said evenly as the group walked through a corridor with many paintings that depicted the schools past.

"How big is this school exactly?" One of the more curious Hogwarts students, a Ravenclaw judging by his blue tie, asked.

"Currently this school houses about 300 students. The usual number of first years always is between 40 and 50, depending on the number of students that pass the entry exam." Céleste answered with a smile.

"What kind of entrance exam?"

"This is a proud school and so there are certain expectations for its students. We are not allowed to divulge the content of the exam, not even those who fail it are allowed to do that, but I can tell you that all students here deserve their place." Henri explained stoically.

"But why an exam? Shouldn't all students have the same chance for a proper education? Barring students from getting education just for the sake of your school pride is not right." A bushy haired girl asked scandalized.

"This school has students from not just France, but also Italy, Spain, Germany, Belgium and several other countries. The schools facilities only allow a certain number of students per year so we have to be picky. Not to mention that there are less popular and smaller magical schools in nearly every country, so no child has to fear being left out. France for example has a second magical school in Paris, though it is smaller in size and has only existed since the end of the war against Gellert Grindelwald." Henri stated, hard pressed to remain cordial in the situation. He really had no nerve to listen to people who complain about things they don't even understand.

"Are there any differences in the syllabus of Beauxbatons compared to the syllabus of Hogwarts?" Another student asked, no surprise, it was again one of the students with the blue ties.

"I cannot answer that question in detail, since I don't know the syllabus of Hogwarts. But I can say that we are different in the way students are taught. At Beauxbatons students learn the entire syllabus in six years, contrary to the seven year syllabus of most other schools. This way the seventh year students have an entire year to prepare for the careers they have chosen. Also this school offers a wide variety of extracurricular activities. Art, music and acting classes are offered for all those who wish to follow a creative subject in their free time, sport classes like Quidditch or soccer for the more muggle oriented students are also very popular amongst the pupils." Henri saw several of the guests sneer the moment he mentioned anything muggle related, their disgust with the topic obvious in their actions.

"Listen up, I will only say this once. This school is not like Hogwarts. We are not secluded somewhere so far away from civilization that the chance is better to meet a dragon than a muggle. We are better connected to the actual world than most other schools. So should I hear any of you wannabe blood purists say or do anything offensive against muggleborns or muggle related things in this school, I will personally beat your asses back to your island. It doesn't matter whether you are on your schools Quidditch team, a duelist or the champion himself, I will not tolerate any despicable actions. And believe me when I say that I have the full backing of my headmistress and the French Ministry for this. This entire event is meant to promote cooperation between our countries, but in the case that you can't follow simple rules you are not welcome here." Henri looked menacingly at the group he had seen sneering before, his icy glare chilling most of the Hogwarts students to the bone. Céleste next to him only smiled benignly, knowing that Henri never made any empty promises. And the fact that he did this to protect his fellow schoolmates only made the boy much more interesting to her.

"And this also goes for bullying or like you prefer to call it, pranking others. Uncle Albus has already informed me and the school administration about who we should watch out for. A little fun once in a while is nothing bad, but if you take it too far you will have to pay the price for that." As Henri said that he looked at all Hogwarts students, his gaze finally resting on two redheaded students in the back.

"Okay, okay. Enough threatening for one day." Céleste said with her constant smile, that by now confused Henri quite a bit. He couldn't understand how she was able to smile all the time, while he would have liked to scowl the entire morning because of this unwanted duty. He had to admit he wasn't entirely fair to the Hogwarts students in his rather rough treatment, but his impatience to finally meet some of the other guests was getting the better of him.

"Of course." Henri said with a sigh. "Follow me, we will not continue on to the dining hall where we will have breakfast. Your own teachers will take care of you from there on."  _And not a moment too soon._  Henri thought with a relieved sigh.

The group walked in silence now, Henri's early words still sinking in. To those students, who had heard stories about the famous duelist before, it was a strange experience since most articles in the news always described him as laid back and friendly. At the moment he was anything but that in the eyes of the guests, but Henri couldn't care less. When his school and fellow students are concerned, he reserved himself the right to be protective. Pride alone demanded that.

As they walked down the hallway towards the dining hall Henri suddenly stopped. "Wait a moment. Do you hear that, Céleste?" He asked in French, much to the confusion of most Hogwarts students.

"Yeah, sounds like someone is crying." She replied with a worried look.

"Wait here." Henri said quickly as he hurried around the next corner into one of the many staircases of the school. There he found the source of the crying, a small girl, dressed in the light blue uniform of Beauxbatons, crying while she held her arm.

"Hey there, young one. Why are you crying?" Henri asked softly as he approached the girl. He didn't know this girl, she was one of the new first years that he rarely spent time with in the last few months. But it didn't matter, he wouldn't ignore a crying child.

The girl seemed startled at first, looking up at the white clad boy before her with wide eyes. "I... I..."

"Hush, it's alright. Has someone done this to you?" He asked calmly as he knelt down next to the girl.

By now Céleste and some of the Hogwarts students were peeking around the corner in their curiosity. What they saw surprised the Hogwarts students greatly. The boy who had been only gruff and cool towards them the entire morning was kneeling there, next to a crying girl, talking to her soothingly, warmly. He acted so completely different that is was almost unbelievable.

"I was running to t..the dinning hall, I...I was afraid I would miss breakfast... that...that I was careless and …"

"And you fell down the stairs?" Henri asked carefully.

"I was on the stairs when other students rushed by... and I fell... my arm, it hurts and I don't know where to go... the teachers will scold me now... I am surely late for classes..." The girl said between hiccups.

"Hush, don't worry. No one will scold you. You are hurt and need to go to the hospital wing." He assured the girl before he pulled out his wand, but the girl flinched slightly away from him at the sight, not knowing what he intended to do. "Don't worry. I will cast a numbing charm on your arm so it won't hurt anymore. May I help you?"

The girl nodded mutely. A short incantation later she looked slightly more relaxed when the pain in her am subsided.

"Now we need to get you to the hospital wing. Come, I will help you to your feet." He carefully pulled the young girl to her feet before he lead her back towards the hallway where Céleste and the others were still waiting. When the girl first saw the group she looked startled, a bit ashamed that so many people might have seen her cry; but on Henri's prodding she followed him.

"What has happened, Henri?" Céleste asked with a curious expression.

"She fell down and hurt her arm. Can you bring her to the hospital wing? I must stay with our guests or the headmistress will have my head..." Henri murmured.

"Of course. Will you be okay here?" She almost smirked, seeing him like this, worried about the well being of a child he did not even know, was just another revelation about him. Of course there many rumors about him and she had learned some things about him simply by watching him over the years. But his sweet and caring attitude confirmed her resolution, to follow her plans for the future.

"I will be fine. The dining hall is not far and then I will be free of them." Henri replied with a faux smirk to soothe her worries about leaving him alone with the guests.

"If you say so. Try not to kill anyone without me here to stop you." She said mirthfully before she turned towards the young girl. "Come, dear, I will bring you to Healer Leblanc. He will help you." She gently guided the girl away from the group, only turning around once to watch with a wide smirk as Henri ordered the Hogwarts students to follow him.

* * *

A few hours later Henri was slowly ambling through the park of Beauxbatons palace, thinking hard about his current situation... and his current difficulties to find a certain blond haired girl. When he arrived at the dining hall all Durmstrang students had already left for lessons, he himself had nearly the entire day off because of his special duties and his lax timetable. He was unsure which lessons Cassandra would have to attend and when he would finally get his chance to talk to her in nearly two months. So to relax he did what he always did to clear his head; he took a stroll in the park.

The extensive park of Beauxbatons reached from the schools main building all the way to an adjacent overlook from where he could see the ocean, a place that he often visited to think. The place itself was secluded enough to be undisturbed here; except for a few students with too much free time almost no one strolled this far away from the school.

It was a pity, really. This place, the point on the school grounds that was the furthest away from the palace, was a sight to behold. A small fountain and some benches near the low wall, that was more fir decorative purposes instead of keeping people from leaving the school grounds, made the place a small oasis of peace, no matter the chaos in the school. He remembered the last year, his sixth year that was filled with exams and general insanity. He spent a lot of time here, at this place, just to get away from it all.

And now once more he was here to relax. He used his time to reflect the past week, especially the last 48 hours, he had to admit that it wasn't his best side that he had shown this far. But with the current guests from Hogwarts it was understandable that he was rather curt and moody.

His thoughts were interrupted when he suddenly felt the tip of a wand pressed against his neck. Someone had sneaked up on him, not as undiscovered as the silent attacker had intended, but Henri still had to acknowledge the feat this person has managed so far.

"My, my. The great Henri Flamel, Beauxbatons Paladin, caught with his pants down." A girl chuckled impishly, her wand still pressed into the boy's neck.

Only a slight moment of carelessness and Henri had grabbed the girl's arm and pulled her over the back of the bench, right into his lap as he sat back down. The girl shrieked in surprise at the sudden movement. One moment she had Henri at wand point, now she was sitting on his lap, face to face with the boy.

"If you wanted to see me without pants you only had to ask, Cassy." Henri said with a laugh before he pulled her further towards him and kissed her playfully.

When their lips parted again, Cassandra looked at Henri with a bold smile. "Ain't you a careless one. What if anyone saw us out here? Oh the scandal, I can already see the headlines in the newspapers."

"I am willing to take that risk for you, Cassy." Henri replied confidently. "You know I missed you these last few months."

"I missed you, too. I was so happy when my father told me about the Triwizard Tournament. Though Tristan gave me a long lecture about things I should not and things I must not do with you during my stay here."

"The overprotective brother, again? He loves that role far too much for my liking. Just because he never has to suffer such a fate due to his fiance's lack of brothers..." His words elicited another laugh from the blond girl in his lap.

"Ah, Tristan is just a big teddy bear most of the time. He just does not like the thought that his little baby sister is being defiled by a Frenchman." Cassandra stated with a smirk.

"Your teddy bear can pack quite a punch, Cassy. But he isn't here and we have an entire school year we can spend together."

"He might come by to visit during the Tasks though." Cassandra said with a thoughtful expression. "Most likely just to see you make a fool out of yourself in this Tournament."

"Sorry to disappoint him, but I won't participate if I can help it. There is nothing in this Tournament that could tempt me to join." Henri stated stoically.

"Really?" Cassandra looked incredulous at Henri when she heard his statement. "Guess that means I won't try to become champion either. There is no fun, if there is no chance for a Grindelwald to beat a Flamel."

"Saucy wench." Henri said playfully. "Your brother was lucky, that is the only reason he could beat me."

"Sure. If that helps you sleeping at night."

"I'd rather have you help me sleeping at night. That would be much better and much more entertaining." Henri told her. Before she could reply to that, Henri kissed her again, with more fervor than before, not that she minded.

A bit breathless both broke the kiss some moments later, their eyes still locked. Blue eyes staring into green, unable to pull away. Both knew there was a connection between them, but neither would speak it out loud. They had their arrangement, friends with certain benefits, nothing that could possibly destroy their friendship. But at that moment, they both felt the pull towards each other. In the end it was Cassandra who broke away first, jumping off Henri's lap; strolling idly to the wall, looking out onto the ocean that stretched to the horizon.

"I heard you have been really moody and grumpy these past few days. Any reason for that?" Cassandra asked in an attempt to change the topic.

"Just where have you heard that?"

"Your friends, Fleur and that Demerais boy; though he was less helpful with his stuttering and drooling all of the time. I couldn't find you and I knew if there was one person who should know where you are, it would be Fleur." Cassandra said with a slight smile, especially when she saw Henri scowl at the part where Achille was drooling.

"I had to fulfill some duties that did not really like..."

"What? Cleaning your room?" Cassandra asked teasingly.

"No, you should know my room well enough to remember that the only things that were lying around on the ground was your under..."

"Okay, okay." She interrupted him with a slight blush. This was not something she wanted others to know, just in case anyone was eavesdropping on them. "What was this task you had to fulfill?"

"I had to babysit the Hogwarts group." Henri said with a sigh.

"I thought you and Albus Dumbledore are close friends. Has something happened?"

"No, no. Uncle Albus and I are still on good terms, that will never change, believe me. I owe him a lot and he was always there for me. No it isn't him. Do you remember what I have told you about my past?"

"You mean the whole adoption thing you have told me last year about?" She remembered how Henri had come clean and told her about his past, the first six years of his life, something that he only shared with few people. It had meant a lot to her that he trusted her enough to tell her this, to her knowledge the only people except his current family that knew the truth were Fleur and herself.

"The bastard who has kicked me out of his family is with the Hogwarts group. It was the first time in over a decade that I had to meet him and the first thing I see and hear of him was his smug grin and his arrogant words. I was tempted to curse him into the next century... He will stay here with his daughter for the entire year because of the Tournament."

"You hate him don't you?"

"I loathe his existence. But I will not give in to the anger I feel towards him. I am not a child anymore. I won't run around and scream and smash things. To me this man is dead. And with his position as Hogwarts' dueling instructor I have a good chance to spend the year without having to face him very often. I just want that man and his family to stay away from me and out of my life." Henri said scathingly. He couldn't help but feel bitter towards the Potters. If it hadn't been for Albus help, god knows what would have become of the young boy he was back then.

"Harry?" A timid voice spoke up from behind Henri and Cassandra. Another person had found its way to the secluded outlook.

"It is a very bad habit to eavesdrop on others, Miss." Henri said. He was slightly shocked that another person had managed to sneak up on him this day. More so that the person was his former sister, one of the people he wished to avoid.

"But... it is really you. You are Harry James Potter, aren't you? You are my brother." The girl said almost hopeful as she stepped closer.

"I don't know what you are talking about, I know no Potters." Henri lied almost casually. "I am Henri Nicholas Flamel, son of Nicholas and Perenelle Flamel."

"Don't you recognize me... of course not, but I am Erica, your little sister." The girl tried again. She now stood in front of him, equally green eyes looking at his with a pleading expression. "We had tried for so many years to find you, to get you back so our family can be whole again..."

"I don't have siblings and I do not have any relation to the Potters." Henri said coldly to her.

Erica was almost in tears by now. For years she had dreamed what it would be like to find her big brother again after her foolish father had kicked him out of the family. Years of hoping that he was alright, that he would forgive them and come back. All that was crashing down around her now. Her brother was right in front of her, but he acted as if she was a complete stranger to him.

"But..."

"Leave now, Ms Potter. You surely have classes to attend to." Henri said calmly.

His words finally had the desired effect and Erica left the overlook, tears streaming down her face as she ran away from the older students. To her a nightmare had come true, her only brother wanted nothing to do with her...

Cassandra had watched the exchange between the former siblings with displeasure on her face. She wasn't displeased with the sudden appearance of the girl. No she was actually disappointed of Henri and the way he had talked to the girl. And she quickly showed her displeasure when she walked up to Henri and slapped him hard on the back of his head.

"Ouch, what the hell is wrong with you." Henri asked.

"Was that really necessary? To ignore her like that? She only wanted to find her brother and you treated her like she was thin air." Cassandra scolded loudly. She had remained silent during Henri's talk with Erica; it wasn't her place to interfere, but now she would give him a piece of her mind.

"I have stopped being a Potter many years ago. That girl isn't my sister and what she wants is a past that I don't even want to think about."

"You are such an idiot." Cassandra said before she hit him on the back his head again.

"Will you stop that already." Henri demanded loudly. "Just why are you suddenly so angry at me?"

"Use your brains, Henri. You were six years old back then, she couldn't have been more then three years old. How can a three year old be responsible for what has happened. She only wants her brother back. Don't transfer the anger you feel towards your former parents on this innocent girl." Cassandra looked at him reproachfully, her voice no longer loud, no now she was speaking imploringly to him.

"She is a glory-hound, just like her father. I have heard the stories about her exploits in the last few years; Uncle Albus has told me most of them."

"Henri, I tell you this because we are very close friends. I wouldn't even bother otherwise. But you should never judge a book by its cover. You only know what others tell you about her. Except that, you know nothing." She looked sternly at the boy before her; the role of the one scolding others was something that she was not used to, most of the time she was on the receiving end of the scoldings. But she just couldn't watch Henri throwing away his possibly only chance to at least regain his little sister. Cassandra had siblings and she knew how precious it was to be close to them. She just couldn't let Henri give up on that without even trying. "You will go to this girl and apologize for being a total ass and you will try to find out more about her before you even dare judge her!" She commanded sternly.

"But..."

"No buts. Either you will do this or I won't talk to you until Christmas, is that clear?"

"Who are you punishing, me or you?"

"Is that clear, Henri?" She asked again, ignoring his question.

"Fine, fine. I'll talk to her. I won't let that awful family ruin my relationship to you. They have caused me enough grief in my life." Henri replied fuming, before he stood up and walked back towards the school to find his former sister. Oh he could already feel the headache coming, now that his secret was out. To him the Potters mean nothing but trouble.

Cassandra remained alone at the overlook, hoping that she had made the right decision. She knew how much Henri hated to be forced to do things, but in her eyes this was necessary. She had to stop him from making one of the biggest mistakes in his life. She would never tell him to reconcile with his former father, but he should at least try to keep his sister close.

His last question still ran through her mind at that moment. Who would feel more punished should she abstain from talking to him for the next two months? He would probably cope better with the situation than she would. Cassandra had to admit, even had he refused to talk to that girl again, she would have most likely still talked to him. Just like him, she wasn't willing to let their relationship suffer because of other people.


	7. Chapter 7

Fleur couldn't help herself but smile. Smile at the wonderful and sunny day. Smile because it was one of her free days, courtesy of her light schedule. But most importantly she smiled because of the hilarity that was imminent.

Earlier this day she had met Cassandra again, the first time in nearly two years. Henri had always kept her visits a strict secret, telling no one, not even Fleur. Because of that Fleur had only spent minimal time with the girl her best friend was so fond of. They were still acquainted, Fleur and Cassandra; they had talked before, they both knew of the others importance to Henri. And now Cassandra was at Beauxbatons, for an entire year no less. Time for Fleur to properly judge the girl, to see how close she and Henri really were.

It already started rather amusing. Henri had already gone on the run, after a few hours with the Hogwarts students. Shortly later Cassandra had come, searching for Henri. Fleur couldn't stop herself from smirking when Cassandra told her, that she was the person who most likely knew Henri's whereabouts. Of course Fleur could only guess where he had run off to, but knowing Henri there were only few places that he would seek out when he wanted to be left alone.

And now she was on her way to one of those places. Curiosity got the better of her, so Fleur decided to take a peek on the interaction of the Flamel heir and the Grindelwald scion. She was sure it would be enlightening, if not she would at least have something to tease Henri with.

She was halfway down the long path towards the solitary outlook, one of Henri's favorite haunts, when she saw the boy she had been looking for. But something was odd. Henri had not noticed her, he was alone and his face showing a displeased frown. He also didn't follow the path towards the school, instead he went down another path towards a small pond that had become the bane of the horticulture group, that tended to some places in the large garden of the school, as part of their Herbology lessons. A beautifully tranquil place, but also a place filled with rather... unfriendly water plants.

Fleur followed him quietly, hoping to find out what was going on. Did he get into a fight with Cassandra? She somehow couldn't believe that. It was no secret to her, that he had greatly anticipated the reunion with the Grindelwald girl. But what else could have happened? Fleur knew that his former father was currently at this school; was that man the reason for Henri's strange behavior? She could once more only guess.

As she slowly sneaked closer to where she had last seen Henri she could hear voices... and someone crying. Things just had become more curious and interesting for her.

"You should not get too close to the water. Our plant brigade has not had the time to clean it out after the long the holiday. There might be some annoying things in there." Henri said jokingly to another person, but Fleur could not see them, only hear what was spoken. She would not dare getting closer, Henri would realize that she was there for sure.

"Why?" The person who answered sounded young, a young girl. "Why are you here? Haven't you already said enough to hurt me, Harry?" Now Fleur couldn't stop herself from letting out a gasp. Whoever the girl was, she apparently knew about Henri's past. No one would ever call him Harry, Henri made sure of that.

"I … might have been a bit... unfair towards you." Henri conceded begrudgingly. "But you must understand why I act like this."

"No, Harry, I don't understand. Why do you act as if I'm some strange? Am I not your sister? I have hoped for so long to see you again... and you only..." The girl stopped in the middle of her sentence, her previously pleading voice had now forsaken her.

Fleur could hear Henri snarl, something that he did only rarely outside of a dueling ring. But what was much more interesting was the fact that the girl that was with him was his sister... well former sister to be correct.

"I already told you. You are part of the reason those … people have abandoned me. I could have died or worse if it hadn't been for Uncle Albus... But of course you wouldn't understand, you are their perfect daughter; their perfect, famous daughter."

"And what should I have done? What did you expect a three year old child to do, Harry?" The girl asked him angrily.

"Don't call me that. Harry James Potter is dead." Henri replied with a sneer.

"It doesn't change the fact that you are my brother. Henri or Harry, is doesn't matter. All I want is my brother back, I don't care whether you hate ou... my parents... "

"I tried to leave this all behind, to forget the past with those people. And now you waltz back into my life and want to be part of it again? After what that man has done?" Henri sounded disbelieving.

"I have never done anything to you... why do you judge me without knowing me." The girl sounded distressed. Fleur couldn't help but feel slightly bad for the girl, but she also knew Henri's past. She could understand his reluctance.

"If you really want me to trust you... don't tell anyone about who I have been in the past. Harry Potter is dead and we don't disturb the dead. We will see what happens in the future." Henri conceded with a deep sigh.

"So you will give me a chance?"

Fleur couldn't hear whether Henri had answered. It was silent, too silent. She slowly crept closer, peaking carefully around a bush to see the pond. What she saw brought a small smile to her face. Near the water stood Henri, looking slightly unsure about what to do next. His sister was currently hugging him, rather tightly as it seemed. Henri did not hug her back, but neither did he make any move to pry her off him. He looked almost lost... it was such a hilarious look that Fleur could hardly suppress a giggle.

"You do know that eavesdropping is a rather bad habit, Fleur." Fleur nearly squeaked in surprise when she suddenly heard someone talk to her. She was so focused on the events near the pond that she had completely forgotten to look out for other people around her. Lucky for her, it was only Cassandra who had happened upon her.

"Oh it is you again."

"Yes, Fleur. So you eavesdropped on Henri and his sister? Have they made up?" Cassandra asked curiously while she took Fleur's arm and pulled her further away from Henri and Erica to avoid detection.

"Sort of... seems like he will give her a chance, though I don't understand why he does it. He is acting rather strange... maybe someone forces him to do it..." Fleur replied with a contemplative look on her face. She and Cassandra slowly ambled back to the main path that would lead them to the palace.

"You could say that … I forced him to do it..." Cassandra muttered with a sheepish look.

"What? Why would you do such a thing? Henri has told you about his past, hasn't he? Why in god's name do you force him to reconcile with his family... and how do you do it? No one can get Henri to do something if he is absolutely against it." Fleur looked outraged at the girl that walked next to her; her opinion of Cassandra had dropped considerably after this revelation.

"First, I didn't force him to reconcile with his imbecilic family, I only told him to give his innocent little sister a chance. And secondly you will not talk this loud, this is a topic that is no ones business except for Henri and the persons that are close to him." Cassandra looked sternly at the part-Veela as she reprimanded her for her outburst.

"Answer my damn questions. Why did you do that to him? Don't you care about him?"

"Never say that I don't care about Henri ever again." Cassandra glared at Fleur's accusation. "But all I saw was Henri blaming a girl for something that was completely out of her control. Just like he was kicked out of his family for having a skill that he had not even known about before. No one should treat any other person like this, Henri especially should have known better than this."

"It should be his decision whether he wants them in his life or not."

"It is his decision. I merely stopped him from throwing everything away without properly thinking about it." Cassandra's tone was calmer now, her slight anger at the french girl for her earlier accusation slowly ebbing away as she saw understanding dawn on Fleur's face. "You have siblings, too, just like me. You should know how important they can be in your life. I wouldn't want a life without my brothers, no matter how annoying they can be. I want for Henri to have the same chance, to have a real chance to have a proper relationship with his sister. The Henri Flamel that I have come to know and care about wouldn't act as coldly as he did earlier, when the girl brought up his past."

Fleur could understand what Cassandra meant. She wouldn't want a life without her little sister either. Gabrielle can be a real imp most of the time, but she means the world to Fleur. But Henri's situation was completely different. Associating with his sister would inevitably lead to an unwanted reunion with his former parents. And that would be a meeting that would not end well.

"This will not end well..." Fleur sighed deeply.

"Have a little more faith in Henri, he will make the right decisions. And if not, well then he still has us two to set him straight." Cassandra told Fleur with a smile.

Fleur laughed mirthfully when she heard that. "I guess you're right. He often needs someone to sort him out. It happened all the time since I first met him."

"That reminds me, Henri has never really told me how you two first met. He always seems slightly embarrassed whenever I ask him about it. Mind telling me what he is so embarrassed about?"

Fleur laughed again when she envisioned an embarrassed Henri Flamel. "Oh that was actually a rather funny story, you know. It was many years back, when we first met here in the gardens of Beauxbatons. It was a rather unusual meeting."

"What has happened?"

"Ahm... when I first met him I..." She started to mumble something intelligible, much to Cassandra's exasperation.

"What? I didn't quite catch that last part."

"I said I broke his nose when we first met." Fleur had an impish look on her face as she remembered that day.

"His nose?" Cassandra asked incredulously. Fleur merely nodded. "Why the heck would you do that for?"

"Well when I started my first year I wasn't all that... popular. People looked sceptically at me because of my mixed heritage. Though there is no outright racism here, like it is common at other major schools, I was still teased for being only partly human. The day I met Henri some older students made some nasty jokes and crude suggestions about what I should do once I had finished my schooling... I was rather angry and sad. A bad mix. I wanted to be alone, but one brave first year followed me and tried to console me."

"Henri? Sounds awfully like something he would do." Cassandra said with a supportive smile.

"Yeah, it was him. I had not realized that someone had followed me, so I was rather surprised when someone talked to me." Fleur giggled slightly before she continued. "All he said was 'hi ho', I believed it was another student who wanted to make fun of me... and in my anger I lashed out."

"And he just let you do that? It is hard to believe that someone like Henri would be hit by an eleven year old girl... sorry I didn't mean that as an offense."

"Well... he did not dodge so I hit him square in the face and broke his nose. I was so shocked by my own actions, especially after I saw the blood flow from his nose. But he wasn't angry or whining because of the pain... no he simply stood there holding his nose and looking at me oddly. Guess what he did then." Fleur said with mirthful laughter.

"He asked for seconds?" Cassandra said between chuckles.

"Almost, but not quite. He asked 'Do you feel better now or do you want to hit me again?'. I was completely dumbfounded at his reaction. I expected him to be angry or to turn around and leave, but he simply stood there, waiting for my answer despite his bleeding nose."

"That definitely sounds like something Henri would do. He always seemed to care more about others than about himself." Cassandra said with a soft shake of her head.

"Oh you haven't heard half of it. There are so many more stories from our time here at school that you should hear." Fleur said happily.

"Well we have an entire school year. Plenty of time to exchange stories." Cassandra replied with a smile. Oh the things that both girls would share about their favorite Flamel would lead to many jokes at his expense.

* * *

Later that day Henri sat inside the school's auditorium, flanked by Fleur and Cassandra, as he waited for the great announcement concerning the Triwizard Tournament. He was only mildly interested, knowing that he wouldn't participate in Tournament, nor would participate in the dueling competition. He would spend his year in peace, getting his work done, enjoying his time with his friends.

But everyone had to attend, no exceptions. The headmistress was already close enough to read him the riot act after he had completely disregarded her plans for the arrival of the Hogwarts group. For some weeks he would have to be on his best behavior unless he had a wish for trouble.

"Shouldn't you sit with your school, Cassy?" Henri asked the girl with a raised eyebrow.

"Maybe, but I don't really care." Cassandra said with a bored expression. For a moment she looked towards her fellow schoolmates, seeing them look rather put out by her absence. But she couldn't care less. She saw Karkaroff look extremely angry, obviously displeased with her choice. "I am not really interested in sitting with those brown nosing sycophants. For over six years they fell over themselves in their attempts to suck up to me. Just because I am a Grindelwald..."

Henri chuckled when he saw her disgusted face. "Why should I be the only one who gets annoyed by his fans." He told her cheekily. "Tristan once complained about getting mobbed by his fan girls."

"Yeah, it was bad for him, but it is worth for me. Half of those inept morons believe that they could buy me in a marriage contract just throwing enough money at my parents. I am so glad that this will be my last year."

"I don't know, I like Beauxbatons. I will really miss this place." Henri said thoughtfully.

"Just because you can do whatever you want here. The headmistress really gave you far too much leeway." Fleur said teasingly.

"Oh shut up. I get punished worse than all of you once I am on her black list." Henri said with a faux affronted expression.

"Sure, sure. Now better be silent, she is already looking at us. And they are starting." Fleur said with an impish grin.

In front of the assembled students the three headmasters stood together with several other men in formal robes, all standing around a jeweled casket. In the end it was Albus Dumbledore who spoke up first after the hall had quieted.

"Eternal glory and fame await the one who manages to win the Triwizard Tournament. But only the worthiest are allowed to enter and face the dangerous tasks." He then waved his wand towards the casket, causing it to melt, revealing a goblet made of wood with flames at the edges. It looked rather spectacular to all the students in the hall. "This is the Goblet of Fire, a loan from British ministry, that will choose the champions for the three schools."

"Loan my ass." Henri murmured. "They simply kept it after they abolished the last Tournament following the deaths of all three champions in the first task..."

"Anyone wishing to submit themselves to the tournament need only write their name upon a piece of parchment and throw it in the flame before this hour on Thursday night. Do not do so lightly! If chosen, there is no turning back. As from this moment, The Triwizard Tournament has begun."*

Excited murmurs started in the auditorium, students dreaming of glory chatting excitedly about submitting their names as soon as the meeting was over. Henri could only shake his head about their behavior, he himself had no interest in this tournament, to him the prospect of fame and glory was not even in the slightest tempting. He already had that due to his dueling prowess.

"But be warned, only students of 17 years and older are allowed to participate." Headmistress Maxime said imperiously. "The danger for younger students is too great, so we will take appropriate steps to make sure that no underage students can submit his or her name." Many groans could be heard from the audience, but the headmistress only looked sternly. "In the past many champions have died in this tournament, we are here to make sure that this does not happen this time. Now, your are all dismissed for this evening. We will reconvene here on Thursday evening to determine the champions for our schools."

The dismissal cause a mass exodus of students from the room, all of the chattering wildly, the younger ones guessing who will represent their schools, the older ones boasting with their chances to become a champion.

"So Henri, still determined to not join the competition?" Fleur asked him teasingly.

"Yes, I have better things to do with my time."

"Oh man, with you as our champion we would win for sure." Achille, who had joined them moments before, said with a disappointed sigh. "I have no illusion that even should I submit my name I would never be chosen."

"Don't fret it. We have better things to do with our time. And I thought you boasted that you would win the dueling competition, Achille." Henri said with a sympathetic smile.

"Of course. With you as trainer how could I lose." Achille said cockily.

Henri then turned back towards Cassandra, seeing her in the company of another Durmstrang student. But not just any student, but Victor Krum himself. He was talking to her in rapid Russian. Henri looked a bit disgruntled since he did not understand a single word that was spoken between those two. He could speak French, English and German, but Russian was a language that never wanted to learn. But even without understanding what they spoke about, Henri couldn't help himself but get closer to them. Krum stood far too close to Cassandra for Henri's linking. Just judging by the tone of Cassandra's voice, whatever they were talking about, she did not like it. When Krum suddenly grabbed her arm to pull her away with him Henri finally snapped.

"Hey!" he yelled at the Bulgarian. "Hands of her, Krum. She obviously does not want to go with you." Henri glared at Krum, but the boy simply glared back.

"But out, Flamel, this is none of your business." Krum grunted.

"When it concerns Cassandra than it is my business. Now get your hands of her or I will have to remove it, forcefully, before I throw you out of this school." Both boys stared at each other, daring the other to give in first. But Henri would not budge, eventually Krum realized that Henri would not make empty promises.

Cassandra finally yanked her arm out of Krum's grip, glaring equally at her classmate before she scooted closer to Henri. Seeing himself in disadvantage at the situation, Krum turned around and stalked away angrily. But before he was out of earshot he mumbled another sentence in Russian, something that even to Henri sounded like a threat.

"What an asshole." Achille said scathingly.

"What was this about, Cassandra? If he bothers you just tell me and I make sure they send him back to the clay hut he has crawled out of before the day is over."

"Krum was rather... angry that I did not sit with the rest of my classmates. The idiot has the stupid idea that I should swoon over him because he is a famous Quidditch player. He is rather popular with the rest of the Durmstrang students, he treats others with respect and all. But me... sometimes I believe he sees me as his property or some shit like that."

"Don't worry, if I have a say in it he won't get close enough to touch you again." Henri promised with a determined look on his face.

"Don't. I do not want you and Krum to fight because of me. He is not worth the trouble." Cassandra said with a sad smile.

"He is not, but you are. I won't let him bother you."

"You are a good friend, Henri... the best actually." Cassandra said quietly.

"Just a friend?" He asked teasingly. She did not answer that question, but looked away with a light blush, causing Achille to let out some wolf whistles until Fleur pulled him away from Henri and Cassandra.

"Come, Achille, time to submit our names." Fleur said before she dragged him further towards the Goblet at the other end of the auditorium.

"We shouldn't act like this, Henri. You know what would happen if people get the wrong ideas about our relationship. It is bad enough that my mother and brothers try to embarrass me with this topic at any given chance, no need to give the newspaper a new headline." Cassandra said coyly.

"If that is what you wish." Henri replied with a smile, though he couldn't fully hide his disappointment.

It was nearly a week later, on Thursday evening that all students once more sat in the auditorium of Beauxbatons, chatting excitedly about who would be the champion for each school. At Beauxbatons there had been a general disappointment when the students heard that Henri had not submitted his name. There was little doubt that he would have been chosen as the Beauxbatons Champion. And just as many people were sure that he would easily win the entire Tournament. But he did not wish to participate and they all to accept that.

"Good evening, students. The time has come for us to select our champions for the Triwizard Tournament. All those who are brave enough to face the dangers of the tournament have submitted their names to the Goblet of Fire and now the Goblet will choose who will represent each school." Headmistress Maxime said imperiously.

The light in the auditorium dimmed as the fire of the goblet changed its color from the former blue to an almost violet color, showing that the Goblet is ready to choose. Dumbledore stepped closer to the Goblet waiting for the first parchment to be ejected, the first champion to be chosen. The entire room quieted down, all students waiting with baited breath.

Finally the first parchment flew out of the Goblet, the corners singed. Slowly it descended until it was finally caught by the old headmaster of Hogwarts.

"The Champion for Durmstrang Institute is Victor Krum." He exclaimed loudly, which was followed by uproarious cheering from the Durmstrang students.

Many Durmstrang students congratulated Krum as he slowly walked towards the headmasters, a victorious grin on his face as his gaze wandered towards Cassandra.

"Of all the people it had to be him." Cassandra growled in displeasure. "Now he will become even more arrogant."

"See the positive side of it, he might die during the Tournament." Henri joked lightheartedly.

"We can only hope." Cassandra muttered, though she now had a grin on his face.

Meanwhile another piece of parchment was floating down into the waiting hands of Albus Dumbledore, the name of the second champion soon to be announced. "The Champion for Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry is... Cedric Diggory."

A boy in Hufflepuff robes stood up amidst the furious cheering of his fellow classmates, most of them ecstatic to see him as their champion. Henri remembered the days when Uncle Albus explained the Hogwarts houses to him; he remembered that the Hufflepuffs are a house that rarely did anything outstanding, a house that was commonly seen as the leftovers by the rest of the school. Of course they would react like this when the Hogwarts champion came from their house.

Before Henri could say anything, Dumbledore had yet caught another piece of parchment. The third and final champion had been chosen. "The Champion for Beauxbatons Academy of Magic is... Fleur Delacour."

This caused great cheers amongst the many Beauxbatons students around Henri's group. The girl in question looked disbelieving at first, slightly shocked that she had been chosen to represent her school.

"Come on Fleur, you need to get up there." Henri said as he pulled Fleur to her feet. "They are waiting for you."

"I... I'm really?"

"Yes, Fleur. Congratulations, champion." Henri said before he gave her a brief hug. Before she knew it he broke the hug and pushed her forwards so she would finally go to meet with the other champions.

"Oh this will be good. Fleur will wipe the ground with those two boys." Achille said with wide grin. "We have already won the Tournament."

"Don't be so sure. Krum might be arrogant, but he is no pushover." Cassandra cautioned.

"Still Fleur is..." Achille started, but he was interrupted before he could finish.

"Pst. Something unexpected is happening." Henri interrupted him loudly.

In front of the students the Goblet had spit out another parchment, another champion... even though they already had three. Dumbledore caught the last parchment, a look of confusion on his face, one that was equally visible on the faces of the other headmasters.

"Erica Potter!" Dumbledore yelled with a booming voice. Said girl looked extremely pale and shocked as Henri saw her. Only slowly she walked forward unsure what to make of the situation. As soon as she reached the front of the room Dumbledore and the other headmasters left together with the young Potter girl, her father hot on her heels.

"What the hell." Henri said surprised. "She damn near fainted, not the type of reaction one would expect from a chosen champion. Or was that reaction faked?" He shook his head.

"Don't say that. I don't think she has faked that shock. Maybe someone has entered her against her will." Cassandra said cautiously.

"Oh come on. Why should anyone enter that girl against her will..." Achille asked. "Unless they wanted a second Hogwarts champion to guarantee their victory! They are cheating!"

"No. Uncle Albus wouldn't do such a thing. And why enter a fourth year when he has enough seventh year students that would be better suited." Henri said more calmly now that his initial anger had subsided. "She really does have some enemies because of her fame... maybe someone hopes to see her die."

"That is awful, who would do such a thing." Cassandra looked incredulous at Henri.

"As I said she has enough enemies. Though I still wouldn't put it past her father to enter her into the Tournament just to gain more fame. He is a bastard like that.

"Flamel." Henri looked towards the person that had spoken to him, seeing one of his teachers, Robert Baudin.

"Yes, professor."

"The headmistress has asked for you. You must come immediately." He then looked at the girl next to Henri. "And you must come, too, Ms Grindelwald, High Master Karkaroff has also asked me to bring you along."

"Oh this cannot be good. I have a really bad feeling about this." Henri murmured as he followed his professor, Cassandra walking silently next to him, a smile on her lips as she could already guess what was about to happen.

When they reached the small adjacent meeting room, they could hear the loud arguing of the three headmasters and some other people in the room. It was mostly the High Master of Durmstrang who spoke loudly and agitatedly, while glaring at Dumbledore and several French and British officials.

As soon as Henri had entered the room, Fleur already walked over to him, a cross look on her face. "Henri! Just listen to those people, they want to let that... that little girl participate in the Tournament. It is an outrage."

"Calm down, Fleur, this must be some kind of misunderstanding. They would be idiots if they let a fourth year compete in this Tournament." Henri said calmly.

"Unfortunately that is not so easy, Henri." Dumbledore said as he walked over to them, blatantly ignoring the latest rant of Karkaroff.

"And why is that, Uncle Albus?"

"Submitting your name to the Goblet is a binding magical contract. Once chosen you have to compete or you will loose your magic." The old wizard said tiredly, for the first time since Henri knew him he looked every year of more than 100 years.

"What a mess." Henri mumbled. "And why are Cassandra and I here? We never submitted our names."

"Yes and that is the reason why you are here. As things are at the moment, Hogwarts has two champions whereas Beauxbatons and Durmstrang only have one each. For the sake of fairness we want to add two more champions to the Tournament, one for each school. Headmistress Maxime and High Master Karkaroff have nominated you and Ms Grindelwald for these positions." Dumbledore explained, looking cautiously at Henri to see his reaction to this.

"No." Henri said before he turned around to leave, Cassandra following him without hesitation. If he would not compete then neither would she. Maxime said nothing, having already expected this reaction. But Albus followed the young wizard and held him back before Henri could leave the room.

"Henri, please listen. Both you and Cassandra wouldn't be bound by the contract. Both of you can quit whenever you feel like it."

"That does not change the fact that I have no interest what so ever to join in this senseless Tournament. I have better things to do." Henri looked reproachfully at the old headmaster, his resolve unwavering.

"It is not just headmistress Maxime that wishes for you to participate. I requested you as well. Don't join this Tournament to win, but join it to help us find out why Erica has been entered against her will. We need someone to keep all champions safe during the tasks and you are the only student that I can entrust with such a mission. There is only so much we can do without"

"You want me to protect all champions or only your precious girl-who-lived?" Henri asked critically. Cassandra slightly elbowed him in the ribs because of his disrespect towards the headmaster, but he ignored it.

"All of them, Henri. All of them. Someone is tempering with the Triwizard Tournament and we have reached a stage where we cannot stop it without causing harm for the champions. Your best friend is a champion as well, don't you want to help us keep her safe?"

"Don't try the guild trip with me, Uncle Albus. That didn't work with me when I was eleven and you asked me to attend Hogwarts and it won't help you now." Henri took some deep breaths to calm down; looking around the room. His headmistress had a carefully guarded expression on her face, not showing her emotions. Karkaroff next to her looked livid, whether it was because of the entire mess or the fact that Cassandra was about to leave without a look towards him, he could not tell. The other officials, the British that had brought the Goblet of Fire, the French that were here to watch over the Tournament, none of them showed any sign of interest in the conversation between Dumbledore and the Flamel heir.

Then he saw James Potter, worry etched on his face because of the danger his daughter was in, but there was also the hint of pride that his spawn would participate in this prestigious competition. Erica herself was still as pale as a ghost, looking frightened at her brother.

The other champions were all standing in another corner, Krum glaring at Henri for some reason. Diggory, the real Hogwarts champion, looked unsure about what to believe at the moment, his confusion obvious in his poise and expression. Fleur next to him looked worried now. Before she felt affronted because of the situation, but she heard what Albus had told Henri and now she was more worried than anything else. Henri knew that Albus was right, all champions were in danger now, Fleur would be no exception.

Henri let out a deep sigh as he closed his eyes to think. He felt a headache coming, even rubbing his temples did nothing to prevent that. "Fine." He finally said before he reopened his eyes. "I will play your little game. Call me champion or whatever you want, but I cannot accept that my best friend is in danger because of your little heroine." His comment caused Erica to flinch slightly and her father to look outraged. "Don't expect me to focus on the tasks." With these words he finally left the room.

"And you Ms Grindelwald?" Albus asked the girl that looked at him with great curiosity.

"I guess I will join as well. Can't call it a competition without a Flamel and a Grindelwald competing against each other." She smirked slightly before she left as well, Karkaroff fuming silently that he had been completely ignored by his own student.

"Oh well... splendid, I guess. Now that we have six champions we can continue..."

"No we can't." Maxime said calmly. "We will meet here again tomorrow morning, when all six champions are in the room to hear the instructions for the first task." She ordered and no one dared to contradict her.

All people in the room left, one after another. The Triwizard Tournament had officially begun. And only a few hours after the start it has already lead to many problems and an unwanted incident. Oh the newspapers will have a field day with this Tournament. This entire event was bound to end in a catastrophe.

* * *

_* Quote - Albus Dumbledore - Book IV: Goblet of Fire_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was once asked why Dumbledore is the one in charge of the Tournament and not Olympe. The answer is simple. It would have been Hogwart's turn to host the tournament, but due to the political turmoil, they decided to go to another school instead. Not to mention that he is kind of a big deal in all of magical Europe. Albus Dumbledore is a name people in all countries know. Olympe Maxime... not so much. People are more interested in events when there are big names connected to it...


	8. Chapter 8

The early autumn sun had risen only hours ago. A faint wind was trailing down the fields and forests around the school, as Fleur left the main building of the school for her first break of the day. The day had been rather calm so far, even more so compared to the busy night the school had seen before. It has been merely a day since the Champions for the Triwizard Tournament had been chosen, but to her it already seemed like it had happened a lifetime ago.

Nothing would ever be simple at this school. Not with Henri Flamel as a student. Though he had no intention of joining the Tournament and though he did nothing on his part to join the fray, he still had managed to become the center of all attention. She was the real Beauxbatons Champion, but it had been Henri, whom the other students had celebrated as if he had already won the entire competition.

Fleur wasn't angry or jealous. No, in fact she felt relieved. She wanted to prove herself to the other students. What better way to do that, than in comparison to the indubitably best student Beauxbatons had to offer. There would be no shame in loosing to Henri, but besting him would silence even those who doubted her the most. It would be perfect. And with Henri as a champion, she had someone to share her burden. They would fight together, for the honor of their school.

And now she slowly ambled down the paths in the school garden, wandering aimlessly as she enjoyed the last warm days of the year. It wasn't until she had reached the large fountain in the center of the garden, before she realized that someone had followed her. Curious as to who it was that followed her, she quickly turned around, only to come face to face with one Cassandra Grindelwald. The foreign girl had an impish smirk on her lips, as if she had some sort of plan.

"Yes, can I help you with something?" Fleur asked carefully. She knew little about this girl. The only thing she knew for sure was that Henri was smitten with her in a way no other girl had ever captured his interest. He trusted the Grindelwald girl, so she couldn't be all that bad... at least Fleur hoped that this was the case.

"Yes. You can indeed help me." Cassandra said pointedly. "You can surely tell me where I can find Henri."

"Haven't seen him so far. Maybe he is..." For a moment Fleur though about where her friend could be at the moment, but nothing came to her mind.

"Hey, Iris!" Fleur suddenly called out to a girl that sat on a bench on the other side of the fountain. The dark haired girl only hesitantly looked up from the book in her lap, but as she did she only glared at Fleur for the unwanted interruption.

"What do you want now, Fleur? I'm busy."

"Have you seen Henri? You are in his Alchemy class after all." Fleur said, her face showing no reaction to Iris bad mood. Though inwardly she wanted to roll her eyes.

"He has not been in class. Jean said something about seeing him and Achille leaving the school this morning in muggle clothes." The moment the last word had left her mouth, Iris had already diverted all her attention back to her book, now thoroughly ignoring Fleur.

"Oh no he wouldn't..." Fleur growled, then she sighed and said, "Of course he would..."

"Uhm, hello? I don't get it. What did he do?" Cassandra asked with a raised eyebrow.

"He and Achille snuck out of school again, to fool around in Cannes. Those lazy, good for nothing..." She was less angry about them skipping classes, what bothered her more was that Henri had not even asked her whether she would like to come as well. She would have welcomed the chance to unwind one last time before the Tournament would claim all of her time.

"You are actually allowed to leave whenever you want?" Cassandra's voice was filled with astonishment. The French school would most likely never cease to amaze and confuse her.

"Yes, but only on weekends and holidays. Isn't it the same at Durmstrang?"

"No." Cassandra said matter of factly. Somehow she felt bereft at the moment. "The next settlement near our school is a muggle fishing village in the middle of nowhere. Staying at the school is not mandatory, but the only option we have."

"Sorry to hear that. We are allowed to go down to Cannes and the magical quarter there. Every weekend after we have reached our third year. Younger years are allowed, too, but only when accompanied by an adult or 'responsible' older student."

"Let me guess, Henri is not considered a responsible older student." Cassandra said with a laugh.

"Yeah, but the teachers are far too lenient with him, so he escapes every now and then to go drinking with Achille and a few other boys. He can blend in with the muggles fairly easy, so there has never been much trouble, but still..." Fleur started to tear her hair in frustration as she thought about this. Oh she should have known that Henri would not stay at school for long.

"And the muggles actually sell him alcohol? He isn't of age, at least not in muggle France." Cassandra replied with much skepticism.

"Henri has always been handy with Illusions. He can fool even the best of us with some of his spells. Muggles would never be able to tell the difference."

"So we go to Cannes now?" Cassandra more ordered than asked.

"Let me think... no. I won't allow Henri to get me into trouble. Not again." Fleur said pointedly, he didn't ask her to come, so she wouldn't run after him. It wouldn't be worth the trouble. "He is a big boy, he can take care of himself." And with that she walked away, leaving a stumped Cassandra behind, not knowing that she would regret this decision later this day.

* * *

"So why exactly are we here today?" Achille asked curiously as he followed Henri through the streets of Cannes. "Not that I mind skipping a lesson or two, but drinking this early in a new school year is not like you, Henri. You usually wait a month or two until you are annoyed enough." He smirked as he elbowed Henri into his side.

"Keep that up and the muggles won't be able to fish you out of the ocean." Henri grunted as he marched on. "And you should know that I am annoyed as hell at the moment, so don't add to that."

"Fine, fine. So where to? Our usual haunt or something more quiet?"

"I prefer a place with..."

"Clean glasses?" Achille supplied helpfully.

"I meant a place with more class, but clean glasses sure are an added bonus." Henri replied, finally allowing himself a small smirk of his own.

"Claire's Terrace then?"

"Good idea. I could use a wine. My parents drink that stuff to nearly all meals and I kind of started to like it." Henri said evenly.

No more words were spoken until the two youngsters reached the establishment of their choice. A small restaurant in the immediate vicinity of the harbor. A nice place with a fantastic view on the sea. But what made it even more comfortable was the fact that it was a place purely frequented by wizards and witches, allowing the boys to talk more openly without the need to make sure that no muggle grew suspicious.

Wine was ordered as soon as they had found a nice and quiet table. As soon as they had settled down, Henri let out a relieved sigh. One of the benefits of this particular place was, that every table was protected by very strong privacy charms, which made listening to a conversation nigh on impossible without being seen.

"So, will you tell me what is bothering you, or are we just here to drink?" Achille asked. He scooped up his glass and took a careful sip from the dark red liquid. "Uhh, not the best vintage it seems."

"I just needed to leave the school until the idiocy has calmed down." Henri replied, before he drank from his own glass. He grimaced similar to Achille, but took another sip none the less.

"Ah the woes of being the celebrated champion. I feel with you, mate. Really, I do." He couldn't help but laugh.

"Thanks for the support." The sarcastic reply caused Achille to laugh even harder. He nearly spilled some of his wine, before he managed to put the glass down on the table. "You do know that I did not ask to be made a Champion. That is Fleur's achievement. I'm merely there to keep up appearances."

"To the others you will always be the one and only true Champion, no matter what Fleur does. I've seen the odds for the bets yesterday. Everyone is sure that you will win with Krum and your little girlfriend on places two and three."

"Cassandra is not my girlfriend." Henri stated calmly.

"Lover, crush, whatever you want to call her, its alright. But fact is, that you will win the Triwizard Tournament."

"Don't be so sure. I might just quit before the Tournament is over. Cassandra and I both have this option. I might be tempted to make use of that."

"You and giving up? Who are you trying to fool now? Really, you are far too competitive for your own good. What is it the people say... ah yes, 'it's more likely that Dumbledore shaves his beard off, than to see the Paladin yield.'"

"Over-exaggerating. There are other reasons why I joined this madness in the first place."

"Oh, and pray tell, what might those reasons be?" The singsong voice of a girl interrupted the discussion for a moment. Henri sighed, Achille though suddenly had a very difficult time to keep his mouth closed.

"Hello, Céleste. Tell me, what brings you here?" Henri said, before he took another sip of his wine.

"Hey, boys. I actually saw the two of you in here and wondered what you might be doing here. Blame my curiosity, but I just couldn't stay away." She said with a sweet voice, a bright smile adorning her face, her amethyst eyes shining even more than usual as it seemed. "Mind if I join you?"

"Just take a seat. But in return you have to tell me what you are really doing here in the city. It isn't like this place is on the route to your next class." Henri said.

"Nothing eludes you, huh?" She asked, "Well lets just say that I needed something for my studies and that I have a special permission from the headmistress to collect it."

"Is that so? And what might that be?"

"That, my dear Henri, is a secret. But what astonishes me more, is why you decided to join us. It must be obvious that we are not out here with a permission slip from Madame Maxime."

"Oh you are out here... illegally?" She asked playfully.

"Indeed. The fact that we are out here with an illusion to hide us should be obvious enough. How did you see through it? That is a question I would like you to answer. How did you do it?"

"You did not put up any illusions, Henri. Must have slipped your mind today."

"What? Oh well, doesn't matter now. They gave us our wine anyways." He finally looked over to Achille only to see him with his mouth still open, staring adoringly at Céleste. "Achille?" He snapped his fingers in front of the other boys face, but he got no immediate reaction. "Achille, you are starting to drool on your uniform. No willpower at all..."

"I get such reactions from time to time." Céleste said with a none committal shrug. "In fact I am sick of boys mooning over me."

"I was right, you and Fleur share more similarities than either of you are willing to admit." Céleste glared at him for a moment, before she schooled her face to a more neutral expression. "But why don't you tell us why you are here with us now."

"I merely passed by and saw you sitting here. I got curious. I just want to make sure that you don't get yourself into trouble. As your partner it's my duty to keep you out of trouble."

"We are not exactly partners any more. With me being a champion I believe my duties are now kind of... gone." Henri said deliberately. Céleste huffed a bit, but decided to not comment on this subject any further.

"So what was it you wanted to say before I so... untimely interrupted your conversation?"

"Well it doesn't matter whether you know or not, so I can just as well tell you, too. The whole problem with the two Hogwarts Champions seems to be kind of a bigger deal than the officials let on. Uncle Albus actually believes someone entered her name in hope of seeing her die during one of the dangerous tasks."

"Who would do something like that? What could they possibly hope to achieve through the death of a fourth year? Is it to make our school look bad?" Céleste asked. She looked a bit disturbed by what Henri had said, obviously not believing that anyone would just plan the death of a school girl.

Henri sighed, before he answered. His eyes drifted off towards the sea. "She does have a lot of enemies. Her entire family does in fact. She is after all the famed girl-who-lived. Former Death Eaters want to see her dead, just as a petty act of revenge for their former master's death. Others just dislike her because she is famous. Fame begets jealousy, jealousy begets hate and hate... is the beginning of the end." He sounded melancholic, his mood reflecting his current thoughts. Cassandra was right, he was too hard on his little sister. His resentment should not lie with her, only with James. There was a lot of pressure on Erica, just because of her past. And the moment she found something to be happy about, the moment she found her older brother he had to reject her.

"Do you know a lot about the Potters?" Achille asked, now that he finally had regained some semblance of normal brain functions.

"A few things, nothing personal though. Uncle Albus talks about them again and again."

"Right, Dumbledore... I forgot you are close to the old man." Achille said, nodding to his own words.

Henri took another big sip of his wine, before he looked back at the other two students at the table. "Life is a curious thing, its a path you cannot see, but never stop to follow until its end." He mumbled.

"Oh, now you are a philosopher." Céleste said with amusement.

"It is something Uncle Albus has told in the past. I was a very young boy and something had happened to me that I could not understand. He is quick to offer advice, but sometimes his words can be more confusing than helpful. It took me years to understand what he meant."

His musings where interrupted when someone coughed loudly next to him, in an attempt to get his attention. It was neither Céleste nor Achille, both were looking somewhat troubled at the newcomer.

"What now?" Henri asked in annoyance. "Is it too much to ask to have some quiet moments without being interrupted all the time?"

"You should better mind your tone, Mr Flamel." A man said darkly. Henri looked towards the source of the voice, only to see a rather grim looking teacher from his school.

"Oh, it's you. Come, sit down with us, Robert. Wine, women and song, what more can a man want?" Henri said with a faux happy voice.

"That is still Professor Baudin to you, Mr Flamel."

"Ah, don't be so stiff. We are among friends here, are we not? No need for rule mongering right now."

"Rule mongering? Well you have never been on to stick to rules. But I am not here to drink. The headmistress sent me to find you. She was not very happy about you sneaking off again." The professor said with emphasis on the 'not happy' part. Everyone on the table knew this meant she was pretty pissed off at the moment.

"Oh why is she angry this time? Seventh year is not mandatory. Skipping a day or two shouldn't be a problem." Henri waved the man's words off, before he drank the last bit of his wine. "Bah, this stuff really tasted like dishwater, but I have to admit, in comparison to my parents wine cellar everything they have here tastes bad. My parents kind of spoiled me with those old wines they collect."

"Mr Flamel." Baudin said once more, this time more forcefully than before. "You are a champion of Beauxbatons and you are needed for a ceremony today. They already had to delay it because of your absence. Do you know how bad this looks when the student everyone expects to win is suddenly nowhere to be found?"

"Ah, not you too. I don't care to win this stupid competition. I did not even want to participate." Achille and Céleste laughed when they heard Henri's protest, but Baudin remained unmoved.

"Up with you. We will return to the school now. And next time you plan to sneak off better check if there are any important events you have to participate in!" Baudin said, before he turned around and walked towards the exit.

"Well, it was fun while it lasted." Achille said with a smirk.

"Yeah, at least he does not bitch around because of the alcohol." Henri replied with a smirk. "Let's pay and get back to school. No need to upset the headmistress any more. She is really nasty when she's cranky." The group of students laughed one last time, before they paid for their drinks and left with Professor Baudin.

* * *

The room was filled with abundant chatter, many voices intermixing, creating an annoying buzzing sound. For nearly an hour the people had waited now, waited for one person to finally arrive. But he just did not come. No, Henri Flamel was nowhere to be found inside the school.

More and more wrinkles appeared on the face of the headmistress Maxime, as her frown deepened with each passing minute. None of the assembled people dared to even think about leaving, some had tried, but a quick glare from the half-giantess quickly dispersed any such ideas.

Cassandra sat slightly away from the entire group, as she watched them all with great curiosity. The French and British officials were all chatting amongst each other, gesticulating wildly as they tried to find out who they should blame for this newest debacle.

It annoyed Cassandra slightly that there were no officials for her school present, but unlike Hogwarts and Beauxbatons, who mostly recruited their students from their own countries, Durmstrang's students came from a wide variety of countries. They just couldn't decide on one or more countries to represent them properly, so they sent more teachers and no political officials to France.

Next to the quarreling politicians stood the British delegation, namely Albus Dumbledore and his champions. The boy, Cedric she believed was his name, made a brave attempt to look calm and dignified, but he only succeeded barely. His own uncertainty in the face of this dangerous tournament could not be hidden so easily.

The young girl next to him was not even able to make any attempt at looking calm. She was pale and shaking like a leaf in the wind. Unnecessary as it might seem on this day, Cassandra knew that most others had not been told about the nature of todays meeting. Due to the events of the day before, they had not been informed about anything. None of them knew what this meeting was about as it seemed. Of course Karkaroff had informed her and Victor about everything as soon as they returned to their quarters. He was hell bent on winning the Tournament, so he would ensure that his champions knew everything. His obvious preference of Victor was barely hidden during that particular meeting the day before. But she did not mind in the slightest, the disdain was mutual. The coward only tolerated her because of her family, else he would have most likely done something to get rid of her. Orchestrated an accident or something like that. He was neither very subtle nor very hesitant with possibly deadly accidents at his school. In fact the man was as subtle as an ogre and trice as dumb.

She shook the image of Karkaroff and her early demise at his hand out of her head, knowing that he wouldn't be so foolish to try something here. Instead she looked over to the French group. Only the headmistress and Henri's best friend were there. Cassandra used the situation to further scrutinize Fleur Delacour. This girl was a very important factor in Henri's life. There was no way of being with him, without getting to know her further. She and Henri had hidden their growing relationship from most people, so her interactions with Fleur had been minimal at best. But now, here at Beauxbatons... whatever their relationship would turn into, this girl would definitely be an important factor.

Fleur was a very pretty girl, Cassandra could freely admit that without feeling jealous. A Veela to boot, an exotic flavor that most other girls might lack. These days there weren't so many Veela, at least not at public schools due to their problems with male attention. Why Henri never dated this girl was quite a mystery to Cassandra. He had known Fleur long before they had met, so why has there never been anything more than a deep, but platonic friendship between those two?

Cassandra knew that pondering this would do her no good and that further investigation at a later point in time would be necessary. So instead she looked over to the large headmistress of Beauxbatons. But all attention in the room suddenly shifted towards the other end of the room, as the door suddenly flew open with a loud bang.

There he was, entering the room calmly, with grace and dignity that he had learned to possess through his many public appearances as a duelist. A cocky smirk was plastered on his face as he walked on, flanked by two other Beauxbatons students and followed by a teacher. She recognized the boy as Achille, one of Henri's closer friends, but the girl she did not know. She faintly remembered seeing her with Henri when she arrived at Beauxbatons, but he had never said a word to her about this girl, so she couldn't really be more than a fellow student. Or was he hiding something?

"Where was he this time, Robert?" Maxime asked in French. Her voice seemed to get deeper and more threatening when she was angry, so a mere word from her seemed to command respect from all people in the room.

"Drinking with his friends, as usual." Professor Baudin replied with a lazy drawl.

"Henri Nicholas Flamel, how often do I have to tell you that it is absolutely forbidden for students to go out for a drink? Your mother would be scandalized, would she know what you do from time to time." The headmistress chided the student with a piercing gaze that seemed to frighten most others even more than her cold anger before. The headmistress would not shout, no, such behavior would be beneath her. But the way she carried herself while angry was even more bone chilling than a screaming banshee. At least to normal people. But Henri was not normal. Neither was Cassandra nor Albus Dumbledore. The Hogwarts headmaster looked almost... amused by the situation. But he hid it with ease. Cassandra though made no attempt to hide a smirk.

"Actually it is my mother who usually asks me if I want another glass during dinnertime at home." Henri said in a bored manner as he finally stopped in front of Maxime. "So, what did I miss? No one told me that you would start with this stupid tournament today, so would someone mind telling me what this meeting is about?"

"Will you ever change? I actually liked your brooding self better. You have been more serious these past few days."

"Nah, I finally got myself some wine - which sadly tasted like dishwater though - and I got some fresh air and time to think. So can we please get on with this, so I can keep my good mood for a little longer?"

"You will be the end of me, Henri."

"Me? Never, headmistress." Henri said with a smirk.

The other people in the room looked curiously at Henri. He was kind of different from the young man they had seen before. "Is he drunk?" Cedric could help but ask the people around him.

"No, my boy, he is merely in a good mood right now. His actions mostly depend on his mood." Dumbledore said with a slight chuckle. He knew Henri well enough to see that he was more happy than yesterday. But just as quickly as his bad mood had vanished, it could come back when he has to face James again. Albus knew that he would need to have a long talk with both of them. No matter what had changed in the last few years, Henri still was a Potter by birth. And Potter men usually needed someone to set them right before bad things would happen.


	9. Chapter 9

Henri poked at his food during dinnertime, still feeling bored as hell from the earlier meeting. For more than an hour the officials had droned on about the Tournament and the tasks... half of it did not even concern him in the slightest. But he wouldn't let his good mood be ruined by this. No, he actually planned his next escape to the city, just in case people annoyed him too much. Well maybe not anytime soon, Fleur was still glaring daggers at him for running off today. Or was it because he did not ask her to come along?

"Will you finally stop glaring at me, Fleur? You will soon have more wrinkles than Uncle Albus." Henri said, followed by a mirthful chuckle. He knew she was angry, she always was when he did something stupid or irresponsible. But most of the time he did what he wanted to, even risking her ire. Well almost each time she found him, she joined him on his little excursions, just to make sure he is safe of course. Though she never openly said it, he knew she always enjoyed those little trips. But today something was wrong and he knew it was more than just his little trip.

"Will you at least talk to me or will you give me the cold shoulder treatment again?" He said with a sigh. It wasn't the first time she was angry with him and he knew it wouldn't be the last time. But it was always very frustrating when she had her moods.

"Why, Henri?" She asked curtly. Her eyes on his, searching for lies in his answers. The rest of her face showed no emotion what so ever.

"Why what? Why did I leave the school today? Because I was annoyed as hell and needed some quality fun time. But you should already know that after all these years." It wasn't like he had never done this before.

"I meant why was that... tart with you when you returned to school?" It was pretty obvious who she was referring to. Fleur really did hate Céleste with a passion it seemed. The unanswered question, though, was why.

"Achille and I met her in Cannes. Ask her why she was there, it really is not my business."

"You know that she is a slimy, disgusting, evil..."

"Fleur, this is really enough. The two of you are more alike than you might think. Just stop this stupid rivalry thing the two of you have and you can see for yourself..." Henri said calmly, before ate another bite from his food. By now it had cooled quite a bit, so he drew his wand and cast a small heating charm. All the while he did not look at Fleur or else he would have seen her outraged face. She said nothing to him, but stood up and stormed off.

"Man, you really are in trouble now. She is scary when she pulls the silent anger card..." Achille said carefully, after he was sure she was out of earshot. He had no intention to end up with a burned behind, just because he angered a Veela. All Veelas had a tendency for overly emotional reactions, but for a part-Veela like Fleur it seemed to be even worse sometimes.

"Maybe, maybe not. By tomorrow she will be back to her usual self." Henri said with a shrug.

"Yeah, sure." Achille replied with little enthusiasm, he knew that he would avoid Fleur for a few days if possible. "But hey, look who's coming there?"

Henri turned around slowly, feeling slightly annoyed by Fleur's mood. But his own face soon sported a bright grin, when he saw who had decided to join him now. With an equally teasing smile, the young Grindelwald girl approached their table. When Henri saw the mirthful glint in her eyes he immediately knew that at least this blonde was in a good mood.

"Good evening Henri, got some time to spare for me?"

"For you, always." He put down his silverware and rose from the table to lead her away. "I'll see you later, Achille. Try to stay out of trouble while I'm not around." Henri said, before he left with Cassandra.

"It is you who always gets me in trouble!" Achille exclaimed loud enough, so all the people in the hall could hear. Henri merely ignored him. But he was about the only one who ignored the outburst.

"Mr Demerais!" A stern woman scolded from behind him.

Achille gulped, before he slowly turned around to see his impending doom. "Oh bugger."

"Have I not told you countless times to behave in the dinner hall? And especially with our guests here?" Headmistress Maxime said, as she looked down on him. From his sitting position she looked even taller and even more imposing than usually. "You know what this means."

"Detention?" He asked subdued.

"Yes, detention, Mr Demerais. Maybe some hours with Professor Legrange will remind you of your manners." Achille let his head hang when he heard that. Detention with the school healer and healing instructor... cleaning supply closets for hours. Oh what fun.

Meanwhile Henri and Cassandra had reached the school gardens. The place was nearly abandoned now, only a few errand students strolling around in the semi-darkness of the evening. The air was still warm though, much too warm for this time of the year. But it did not disturb the pair, as they finally sat down on a bench near the fountain – the center of the garden.

"So..." Henri said with a crooked smile, as he looked at the blond girl. "Missed me much?"

"Well I did try to find you... to no avail I might add." She replied with mock indignation. "Here I thought you wanted to spend some time together, yet you run off with your buddy to get drunk."

"Not to get drunk. But I wasn't in a very good mood." he sighed slightly, as his eyes wandered away from her and towards the fountain. "But that will change now." As he looked at her again, he saw that mischievous glint in her eyes, a sight that he could not get enough of.

"Oh, so you will not get angry again?"

"Can't promise that, not with that man around, but with you around... well let's say I will find ample distraction." He leaned forward to kiss her, but she stopped him. With an impish smirk she jumped up from the bench and walked over to the fountain.

"You do know that we have to be more careful. Tristan is not as oblivious as you would like him to be. Sooner or later he will find out and challenge you to a duel over this matter."

"We wouldn't be in this situation, would you just allow me to court you properly." Henri replied, as he followed her.

"I don't want you to feel like you are obliged to do this, just because of our agreement. I'm happy the way we are right now."

"Obliged? Never. You know how I feel, do I have to spell it out loud?" He moved closer to her, his hand tilting her chin slightly upward, so she would look into his eyes. "I promise that all I do is motivated by genuine feelings."

"Promises, promises." Cassandra mumbled faintly, as she tried to turn her head away from him. But he wouldn't let her. He chuckled lightly, amused by her playful attempts to stall him. But he could see her smirk, before she finally allowed him to kiss her.

"Get away from here this instant, you French dog." Someone yelled not far from them, disrupting their special moment, ruining the mood.

Henri looked around with a dark frown, his eyes promising pain to whoever had interrupted them so rudely. His eyes quickly found the interloper, one Victor Krum, who looked at him with anger in his eyes. The Durmstrang Champion had his wand in his hand, his body tense, his posture showing his willingness to fight.

"What do you want, Krum? You are not wanted here, so leave us be."

"I will only repeat myself one more time. Get away from Grindelwald this instant, or else..."

"Or else what? Do you really think she would be with me, if she had any interest in you? Go and rub your flying stick, isn't that what you are famous for?" He gently pushed Cassandra behind him, shielding her from Krum with his body.

"Henri, don't. Fighting him is not worth it." Cassandra cautioned him, her eyes never leaving him as she saw how tense he had become. The last time she had seen him like this was briefly before his last duel with her brother...

"What do we have here? Duels, even the friendly sort, are not allowed on the grounds of this school I believe. At least it wasn't during my last visit. Has that rule been changed since last May, Henri?" Nobody knew where he had come from, but all of a sudden Albus Dumbledore had walked right into the scene, only moments before a fight would have started. But by the looks of it, Cassandra was the only one who was happy about his interruption. Krum wanted a fight and Henri wouldn't let the other boy go as long as he posed a threat to Cassandra's well-being.

"There have been no changes in the rules... at least not recently, uncle Albus." Henri said calmly, after he had taken some deep breaths. His eyes were still focused on Krum, lest the Bulgarian would try something. But it was obvious that the presence of Albus Dumbledore, a wizard widely recognized as one of the most powerful at this time, and the familiarity between Henri and Albus, quickly discouraged him. He put his wand away and left. But not without one last hateful glare at Henri and Cassandra.

"Fighting is never the best solution, Henri, even when you do it for the sake of your favorite maiden," the old wizard said, half serious, half joking. He couldn't stop chuckling though, when he saw both Henri and Cassandra blush.

"Just who does he think he is? Coming here and saying that she is his and all that. It is as if he thinks he owns her. How conceited can one person be?"

Cassandra looked almost sadly for a moment, before she said, "You understand now why I said that I am happy once I'm done with my seventh year. Victor behaves like the prince of Durmstrang. He is the famous celebrity because of his Quidditch career. Everyone sucks up to him and the girls start to swoon once he is near. And to make things worse, he gets away with nigh on everything. He is Karkaroff's favorite student. Victor wants something and the High Master indulges him. It's been like that for years."

"And where does he get the idea from that you are his property?"

"I am the only girl that he cannot have, so he makes sure that no one else will get me. Be careful around him, he is rather ruthless if he wants something."

"And Tristan never did anything to stop him? The Tristan Grindelwald I know would have chopped that asshole's hands of, just for touching you. Where was your obsessively overprotective brother these last few years?" Henri couldn't understand this, Tristan had always come to Cassandra's rescue, even when 'the wrong sort of people' only talked to her.

"Victor was rather secretive as long as Tristan was still at Durmstrang. It only started to get worse this year, after my brother had graduated."

"Why didn't you tell him?"

"I am not weak, Henri. I won't run to my brother every time someone is mean to me. I'm not the spoiled princess that some people believe me to be. I can take care of myself," Cassandra said indignantly.

Henri smiled wistfully at her, as he placed a hand on her shoulder, "I never doubted your strength, but even the strongest of us need help sometimes."

"Well said, my boy. Well said," Albus said, as he looked proudly at the boy before him. Henri had come a long way from the scared boy he had once brought to the Flamels. And though he sometimes had a temper, he still had learned his lessons well.

"Uncle Albus, why exactly are you here? Not that I mind, but you usually have a reason for everything you do. And as far as I know, taking long evening walks through a park is not one of your hobbies." Henri said with a slight smirk.

Cassandra stood still next to him, his arm now protectively around her shoulder. She obviously didn't mind, though it was obvious that she was not sure about showing any form of affection in front of the old wizard was acceptable. Henri was after all some sort of surrogate grandson of Dumbledore... and she was the granddaughter of his nemesis. What would he have to say about their relationship or any further developments in the future?

"In fact I was look for you. I believe we need to talk. About the Tournament and… other things." He looked pointedly at Cassandra for a moment, like a silent request for her to leave.

"I guess this is my cue... I should..." She said, before Henri interrupted her.

"Stay," he commanded softly. "Whatever you have to say, you can say in front of her as well. Cassandra is one of the few people I've told about my past. In fact she was already present when I... sort of reunited with my darling sister."

A small smile spread on the old wizards face, before he let out a jovial laugh, "Very well. But let's take a walk, shall we? I'd rather not say things here, where the chances are much higher to attract more unwanted attention." He did not wait for a response, instead he started to walk along the long path, which lead away from the school. He walked at a sedated pace, obviously enjoying the warm evening air.

Henri looked at Cassandra for a moment, before he lead her along the path, following the old wizard. Whatever Albus had to say, Henri knew it would either be troublesome or important. When Albus Dumbledore talked to him it always ended with either of these consequences.

"It is good that you have already met Erica. I had assumed as much, after I had seen how often she looked over to you, whenever her father wasn't looking." Though Henri would never say it, he appreciated the fact that Albus said her father instead of your father. The Hogwarts headmaster had long since accepted that Henri would never forgive James enough to recognize the man as his natural father. And he knew that Nicholas was doing a far better job as a parent.

"The meeting was unintentional... and a bit rough..." Cassandra elbowed him slightly, to remind him of his unjust treatment of his sister, not that he would have forgotten about it. "But I believe we parted on... good relations. Only the future will tell what our relationship will be in the future."

Albus hummed in agreement for a moment, he had not expected more for the moment. In fact he had expected worse. He knew how much Henri had started to despise his birth family for abandoning him at such a young age.

"She is a good girl, a bit reckless at times, but none the less a good girl. You won't find a more loyal friend than her, once you manage to gain her trust."

"You haven't listened to me when I told you about Fleur, else you would know that I already have extremely loyal friends." Henri replied with a smirk. They may argue, they may fight, but in the end they always reconcile and stand up for each other. Fleur was the best friend he ever had... and deep down he told himself that the part-Veela was also the only sister he needed.

"Be that as it may, Erica will always be your sister. And the girl needs you now."

"Why me? She has her oh so great father with her. Isn't he man enough to protect his daughter?" Henri said mockingly.

Albus sighed, a look of worry on his face. "No, Henri. He cannot help her. Outsiders are very limited when it comes to interfering with the champions of the Tournament. But another champion..."

"Technically Cassandra and I are also outsiders. We never submitted our names. We are not bound by that magical contract bullshit of that burning cup."

"You are right and wrong. You are not bound, but you are still recognized as champions. I've told you countless times, Magic is more than just an inanimate power, it's wild, unbound and most definitely very aware of what happens. It adapts. The Magic of the Cup can distinguish between the interference of an outsider and the efforts of another participant. In a way the two of you are luckier than the rest of the champions, you don't have the downsides of this whole magical contract."

"So you are telling us that this Cup has accepted us as champions, even though we never submitted our names?" Cassandra asked astonished.

"Yes indeed. The intent it what counts and when both of your accepted your roles in this Tournament you made a clear statement of your intent, Ms Grindelwald." Albus said. He could almost see the gears working inside her head. The look of concentration on her face and the shine in her eyes when she came to a logical conclusion. She was like her grandfather in that regard. He would have to wait and see if she shares more characteristics with her infamous grandfather. Gellert was frighteningly perceptive and powerful. From what Albus knew about this girl, it was obvious that she was at also not one to be trifled with. But her close – very close by the looks of it – relationship with Henri put him somewhat at ease. The boy had always been a very good judge of character.

"Intelligent? Then how was someone able to enter a fourteen year old girl against her will and without anyone noticing it?" Henri asked critically.

"You are the one who specializes in Illusions, Henri. I'm sure you already know the answer to your question." Albus replied.

Henri looked to be in deep thought for a moment, before he looked at the old wizard, disbelieve on his face. "Are you trying to tell me that someone tricked that Cup into choosing Erica as a champion? That someone confounded the Cup or something like that?"

"Exactly. There are not many people in this school that have the knowledge to do this at the moment. But I wonder why anyone would enter her into this Tournament. Why now? Why here? This is most troubling."

"Well when you look at the last few Tournaments. More than half of the Champions have died during one of the tasks. And even you have to admit that Erica Potter may be famous, but there are also a lot of people that would like to see her dead." Henri stated dryly.

"You are right about that. There have been incidents before, as you know. But I had hoped that at least this year, away from Hogwarts and Britain, she would get some measure of peace. One normal and carefree school year. But trouble seems to follow wherever she goes."

"I do hope that she poses no risk to the safety of my fellow students here, uncle Albus."

"Don't worry, nothing bad will happen to the other Beauxbatons students. But your worry for their safety does you credit, my boy." Albus smiled at Henri. Oh how he would have enjoyed having the boy at Hogwarts. He had tried, but both Henri and his parents were firmly against it. It was the best for Henri, but somehow Albus was sure that his own school had suffered a great loss when Henri decided to attend Beauxbatons. "But the same can not be said about Erica. She is in danger and she needs help. Your help. They call you a Paladin, no one would be surprised should you offer help for the poor fourth year that has been trapped in this Tournament."

"James won't like it." Henri said with a crooked smirk. "It would most definitely piss him off... I like it. But I can only help her survive the tasks, nothing more."

"That is all I ask for." Albus said relieved. "I believe it is time for me to leave now. I do not wish to disturb you two any longer than necessary. We will talk about the extent of your help for your sister tomorrow. I wish you a good night, Henri, Ms Grindelwald." His eyes were twinkling so bright, Henri was sure that Albus Dumbledore would find his way even during the darkest of nights.

But finally Henri and Cassandra were alone again. "So, where were we before the interruptions?" Henri asked, as he grinned cockily.

"You were mumbling silly nothings about your unwavering devotion. You French are such romanticists." Cassandra said with a smirk, as she finally got away from him and skipped a few steps ahead of him. "You know that we had an agreement when this all had started. No deeper commitment..." She said carefully, as she watched his reaction.

"That was three years ago, Cassy. Things change..."

"Henri... let's not rush things..."

"As you wish. I won't push you. But always remember, I have made my intentions clear." Somewhat disappointed he turned around and walked back to school, deep in thought about his own feelings. He was sure she felt the same, but why would she deny her feelings if it was this obvious that he shared them? He would need someone to talk to about this topic... but Fleur was still angry with him... great...

* * *

It was the next day, when Henri was busy training the would be duelists of Beauxbatons. Once more they made use of the excellent weather and trained outside. Again they had numerous spectators, both from their own school as well as from the guests. But Henri was not bothered by that, even though some of those who watched were possible opponents later. They wouldn't learn much without prior knowledge of his earlier lessons. He had it all planned out this way, to minimize the success of spies.

"Wait, Achille, wait. I told you to stop stabbing at the air. It does not help you in the slightest. Just follow the fluid movement, no need to finish the spell in any extravagant form!" Henri chastised his friend slightly.

"Easier said than done. How can not wish to show off, when there are so many pretty girls watching?"

"Focus on the fight, on your opponent."

"Yeah, yeah. Just because you are only interested in one girl." Henri said, before he let out a mirthful laugh. Thanks to his big mouth nearly the entire school had found out that there was one girl that Henri Flamel favored... but thankfully no one knew which one. The rumor mill was running wild with suggestions though. Most people were sure it was Fleur, even though both Henri and Fleur had made it clear over the years that their relationship was more sibling like, nothing more. But this time Henri wouldn't contradict anyone, he just ignored them, happy that no one but a selected few knew about him and Cassandra. And Fleur didn't mind the rumors, they had been around for years. "But what about this whole Tournament thing?"

"Two weeks, Achille, two weeks. I still have no clue what that first Task will be... maybe it is better this way." Everyone was very tight lipped about the tasks, something that both annoyed Henri and at the same time sparked his curiosity. He knew it would be dangerous. He knew it would be hard. The first task was traditionally a test of courage. It was also the task with the highest death toll.

"So, what will you do to prepare yourself?"

"Oh, I have a lot of interesting ideas..." Achille leaned in closer, hoping that Henri would share his secret plan with him. But Henri merely smirked, before he said, "And you, my friend, are still in no shape for the first round of the dueling competition. So get up and run. Twelve rounds around the school will do wonders for your endurance." Achille groaned, but Henri was relentless when it came to training, "This goes for all of you. Twelve rounds, then you can quit for today!" Henri yelled towards the rest of the group, before they finally started to move. He didn't know what would await him during the first task, but at least he would be able to see James put in his place, when all of his students get defeated by Beauxbatons students during the dueling event. Maybe he would at least have some fun this way, while the rest of his life was rather frustrating at the moment.


	10. Chapter 10

He watched his opponents, all of them standing around in the tent. All of them seemed tense. Some tried to look tough. Krum even more than anyone, though the boy always looked tense.. or constipated, Henri couldn't really tell when it came to the Bulgarian boy. Others looked unsettled. Henri could see his sister, Erica. She looked downright terrified. She was as pale as a ghost and shaking slightly. And she had all right to feel hat way.

The first task was usually a task of daring. A test of courage. And no one knew what to expect. The first task had been organized by the French ministry and no one knew what would await the champions. Not even the teachers had been told about this. The event would happen at the sea, not on the school grounds, so the faculty could do nothing but wait for what the ministry had come up with.

Moments before the judges had been with them, to determine who would start first. One after another all six champion would face their task. He couldn't help himself but smirk, when his name was the first to be drawn. He would open the Triwizard Tournament. He was always the one who would go first. Every single dueling tournament had been the same. He would start.

"What do you think they will do?" Cassandra had walked over to him, a bored expression on her face.

"Dunno, but I hope you have a bathing suit with you."

"Why? So you can ogle me or something?" She asked with a smirk. "Don't forget, all those other students will get to see me, too."

Henri growled something that she did not quite understand, but she had to laugh when she saw his expression. "They won't get anywhere near you as long as I am around. But just listen for one moment. What do you hear?"

She listened closely, but all she heard was the murmuring of the other champions and the sounds from the spectators outside. But then she heard something else. A faint sound... "Is that..."

"The sea. We are at a secluded part of the beach. They didn't want us to know beforehand, that's why they apparated us to this tent. Whatever we have to face, it will be out there, on the sea." Henri said confidently. He knew the sea around this area well enough. He had been swimming here since he was eleven years old. He knew what to expect... unless the ministry had the ingenious idea to drop something much more dangerous into the sea.

Cassandra leaned closer to him, as she got an idea to throw Henri off balance. At least for a bit. "Of course you must be twice as happy to know that you will be the first to finish this task, so you can watch me getting wet out there." She smirked when he shivered, as she whispered this into his ear.

"As much as I would enjoy continuing this, but people are starting to stare. And I believe Viktor is about to explode." Henri said with a laugh.

Cassandra merely shrugged, before she said, "It's not like people would believe anything that the champions say about each other. They will merely think that we try to make each other look bad."

"Whatever you say. I just hope this task will start soon. I want to get out of this place."

"Out of those dueling robes you mean."

"Well, well. Maybe you want to help me get out of these..."

"Later. Maybe. But for now you should keep your focus on this task." Cassandra pushed him away, as she tried to keep him from messing with her head. She knew that they both could play this game and sadly he was better at playing minds games. Both Henri and her brother knew how to win fights without a single spell. "But tell me, why is Fleur secluding herself over there, instead of being here to talk with us?"

Henri sighed for a moment, as he looked over to his best friend. "She is still slightly angry because I talked to the one person she hates the most... and she does not want anyone to think that her success during the Tournament is because of me. She has a lot to prove."

Cassandra did not look all that convinced about this, but any further objection had to wait. One of the officials had just entered the tent and looked around, obviously searching for someone. When he saw Henri he quickly walked over and told him to prepare himself for the sign.

"Guess that is my cue. One last kiss for good luck maybe?" Henri said, as he looked playfully at the blond girl next to him.

"Just go and don't embarrass yourself. Should you survive, I might be tempted." Cassandra said, before she pushed him towards the exit, where the official was waiting for him.

"I will see you at the finish line. Don't keep me waiting, Cassy." Henri said loud enough for everyone in the tent to hear. The young Grindelwald girl smiled benignly, before she turned around and walked back towards her corner of the tent, where she had sat before.

Henri looked around once more. All other champions were looking at him now. Diggory looked curious, his gaze wandering from Henri to Cassandra and back, before he saw that Henri was looking at him as well. Then he saw Krum. The other Durmstrang champion was glaring at him, his eyes blazing with fury. Henri merely rewarded that with a mocking smile, which seemed to anger the boy even more. Next was Fleur, who for once smiled encouragingly at him. He gave her a thumbs up, knowing that she would be alright and that after this task their friendship would most likely return to their normal bantering. Last came his little sister, who still looked fearful. Of course she would be afraid. She was the youngest here and the least experienced. Even though he had helped her these past few weeks, she was still sorely unprepared for whatever challenge the Tournament would present.

"Erica, courage doesn't mean to throw away your life, but to know when to fight and when to run." He said loudly, before he turned around and left the tent. He really hoped that she would understand what he tried to tell her with that.

The moment he stepped out of the tent, he felt overwhelmed. The sun was shining brightly, almost blindingly in comparison to the dim light inside the tent. And then there was the noise. The loud cheering of the students and other spectators. He could see several large stands, filled with people. The judges sat in the middle of this pandemonium, all of them watching him with interest. And then there was the sea, crashing against the beach before him. Just seeing the water filled him with anticipation.

He took one deep breath, before he raised one fist in greeting. And the crowd reacted in kind, as the cheering only increased. He knew that they wanted a good show and he would not disappoint them if it was in his power.

"We present you, the first Beauxbatons champion. Three times French dueling champion in the age group 18 and below, runner up for this years European dueling champion in the same age group. We present you Beauxbatons' finest son. Beauxbatons' paladin, Henri Flamel." Henri smirked as they announcer introduced him to the spectators, not that there would have been anyone who did not know him.

"Mr Flamel, today you will show your skill and your courage in this test of daring. Your task is simple. Out there, half a mile off the coast, is small wooden platform. All you have to do is reach it." They made it sound extremely simple, so he could only guess that there would be something very dangerous out there.

"Beauxbatons are you ready for a show?" Henri yelled loudly, as he pulled out his wand transfigured his robes into swimming trunks, with much more effects than necessary. But the crowd roared and he knew that he had won them over.

"Mr Flamel, when you hear the canon you may begin. Best of luck and good hunting." Henri waited for some more moments. He was a bit tense now, as he waited and time seemed to slow down just to annoy the hell out of him.

Then he heard the canon and started to run. But he did not jump into the water, as people had expected him to. Instead he directed his wand towards the water and cast a spell. Within moments the water froze, creating ice that was thick enough to carry his weight. And so he continued to run, his wand ever directed at the sea and his magic channeled into this one spell.

But soon he encountered his first problems. Whirlpools. Wherever he went, a hole would appear on the surface of the water and threaten to swallow him. Small, dark abysses, that loomed threateningly in his way. He tried to avoid them, to run around them, but they did not just come back, they also grew in size.

He had to stop suddenly, when a dark abyss opened before him, to big to run around without loosing time. And there was something very wrong with this darkness. He could see something move inside. Down there, where all light seemed to disappear. Something was waiting for him and he knew that this wouldn't be good.

And then it came. He heard it first. A loud, menacing roar, before it shot up from the ground. It's scales shimmered in the sunlight, giving the beast an almost otherworldly, green glow. And three giant heads appeared, filled with countless sharp teeth and icy blue eyes. It's body was still fully submerged, but three tails could be seen, thrashing around behind the beast, as quickly as whips and likely just as painful.

"You've got to be kidding me. What kind of idiot would bring a sea serpent this close to a city?" He could barely believe his eyes. A test of daring alright. Only an idiot would try to take on such a monster. Especially not alone... Just what did they expect him to do with that thing?

He could hear the crowd at the beach shriek in terror, as it became obvious that no one had known about this monster beforehand. Was this even part of the task or just his luck? His mother always said that he attracts trouble, but he would have never believed that she meant it literally.

He had to jump to the side, to avoid one of the monster's heads, as it started its assault on him. It was fast, but not enough to catch him. But what it lacked in speed, it made up with the fact that it had three heads that worked independently. He could avoid several more attacks, before he got his first close up impressing of the beast's maw. It did not eat him, but it appeared before him and roared so loudly, that he thought that his hearing might just have taken a long term vacation.

But he also realized something else. "What... the... hell..." He could hear the beast, see it, see the effect its presence had on the sea around him... but he could not smell it. There should have been the foul smell of its breath, but there was nothing but the smell of the sea... "Those damn little... trying to beat me with my own weapon." He muttered, before a smirk spread on his face. They would have their show.

"Come here, ugly. Time for a late breakfast." Henri yelled, as he ran directly towards the monster. The crowd screamed in fear, but it didn't matter. Before anyone could react, the beast had already resumed its attack and swallowed the young Flamel in one go.

Everything went silent. All spectators dared not speak, convinced that they had just witnessed the death of a champion. Even the teachers, who had not yet been told about the true nature of this task, ran around in concern, calling for aid to hunt the monster and to stop the task now, before more champions would die. But then the unexpected happened. The monster exploded like a giant green firework, leaving no sign of its existence. Where the monster had been before, there was now only the sea, calm as if nothing had happened. And on the platform not far from the beast's former position, they could see a boy, one fist raised in victory as he had finished his task.

"Ladies and gentlemen, with a time of 17 minutes and 33 seconds, Henri Flamel has reached his goal and completed the first task. Congratulations to our successful champion." An official came and brought Henri back to the beach, where his friends and family were already waiting for him.

"You did it! That was spectacular, that was insane, that was..."

"Achille, try breathing sometime." Henri said with a laugh, as he saw his friends excitement. Then he saw his parents there, waiting for him. "Maman, papa. I didn't know you would come today."

"And miss our son's big show? Perish the thought." Nicholas Flamel said, as he looked proudly at his boy. Perenelle engulfed her son in a tight hug, as soon as he was close enough to her and wouldn't have let him go, had it not been for Nicholas interference. "My dear, I believe he still needs to breathe every once in a while."

She finally released Henri, but wouldn't let him get more than an arm's reach away from her. "Henri Flamel, what you just did was the most idiotic thing I've ever seen. What would have happened, had this been a real beast?"

"It wouldn't be as hungry anymore?" Henri said in jest, though he regretted his words as soon as he saw the dark look on his mother's face.

"Irresponsible, just like your father. Do not shock me like this, you know that I'm not as young as I look." Perenelle huffed angrily.

"I'm sorry, maman. But I wouldn't have done this, had I not been one hundred percent sure that this monster was just a very elaborate illusion."

"But it looked so real, man. Even the teachers thought it was the real deal." Achille exclaimed, still as excitedly as a child on a sugar rush.

"Just think about it, not even the dumbest employee of the ministry would bring such a dangerous beast anywhere near a city. Cannes is just around the corner and it would be almost impossible to keep it away from the unsuspecting people.

"Look, it's Cassandra's turn now." Perenelle exclaimed, as she saw the blond girl emerge from the tent. They could see her and the entire beach from their current position, but they were too far away for Cassandra to actually see them. She would neither know what would await her during the task, nor would she know how Henri had fared. "She looks so proud and determined. She will succeed."

Henri chuckled when he heard that. He knew that his mother liked the Grindelwald girl and would love to see her at his side in the future. Then he remembered that surely someone from Cassandra's family must have come as well. And he wasn't disappointed. Not far from them stood her brother, Tristan. The boy obviously waited for his sister to start, though he did not seem concerned about her well being.

"29, Flamel." Tristan said, as he saw that Henri had spotted him. "29 possibilities to defeat you with one strike, before you even realized that I am here. You are slacking off." he said, as a lazy grin spread on his lips.

"Not all of us get attacked on a regular basis, Grindelwald." Henri said with a matching smirk. Both boys stared at each other, before they laughed and gave each other a short, but none the less brotherly hug.

"I believe this is your fault. Last time I talked to my sister, she said that she wouldn't join this mad tournament. And now look at this. She is about to run into an unknown situation."

"I think the fault is yours. The words 'it isn't a competition without a Flamel and a Grindelwald competing against each other' are from your mouth. She merely does what you can't"

"Don't remind me," Tristan said with a disappointed sigh, "today I really regret being the older one. I would have giving everything for a chance to participate in such an event. Especially against you. But alas, luck was not on my side."

"Such events come and go. You will find other chances to fight in the future, that I'm sure about." Nicholas said, as he interrupted they friendly banter of his son and his friend. "Maybe even for some much more personal reasons."

Both boys quickly understood what he implied and judging by Tristan's scowl, the young Grindelwald was not all that happy about this. "I do hope that you have not done anything to defile my sister, Flamel." He looked accusingly at Henri, who smirked brightly.

"Ah come one, we haven't done anything that you have never done before."

"Henri!" Tristan growled.

"Watch boys, it has begun." Perenelle interfered before the boys would start a duel right there and then. Instead their attention was now on Cassandra.

"Ten coins that my sister beats your time." Tristan said suddenly.

"You're on." Henri replied. Not that he doubted Cassandra's skills, but this was a family matter. The Grindelwald-Flamel rivalry had entertained thousands during the dueling competitions and was the base for far too many stories, written in all kinds of newspapers. It was already legendary, even though Henri and Tristan were not even proper adults yet.

They watched as Cassandra started her task in the same way Henri did before, giving the people a show, as she readied herself for the challenge ahead. Especially when she changed her clothing to appropriate swimming attire, the male part of the crowd went wild. There were quite a lot of things that the boys yelled at her, followed by wolf-whistles and whatnot. And both Tristan and Henri could be seen glaring at each and every one of those boys. Neither boy saw Perenelle snap a picture of this, a picture that she would use to tease both of them for many years to come.

"She is a fast swimmer... far better than you, Flamel" Tristan said with a smirk. "And she is not afraid to get wet."

"Of course not." Henri replied calmly. "We've been swimming in that lake near my family's home, it was always so much fun. Just the two of us..."

"If you plan on having children in the future, you should choose your next words very carefully." Tristan said with a menacing growl.

"Relax, nothing bad has happened." Henri said appeasing, though his smirk shattered this illusion rather quickly.

"Are those real sharks?"

"Dunno. But it is likely that they are illusions as well. They must have a very good illusion master here, that monster was quite convincing. I wonder who it is." He knew most of the current masters in the obscure magical art of casting illusions. It had become a rarely used art, as most wizards these days preferred a more hands on approach to things. There were only a few dozens who cared to learn this useful part of their magical abilities and only a hand full of masters.

"That's the spirit. Real or not, those damn fish regret getting near my sister." Tristan exclaimed triumphantly.

"That does not look good," Henri murmured, when Cassandra suddenly disappeared under a huge wave. They couldn't see her anymore, even after the wave was gone and the water had returned to a normal level. There was nothing, but the calm sea.

"Where is she?" Tristan said nervously. "Something is not right." They could see that even the officials were antsy now. Whatever had happened, it was not part of their plan."

Both boys were getting quite anxious as time passed. They had already passed Henri's time without any sign of the girl, before something happened. An explosion below sea level, a huge fountain that caused water to come as far as the beach. And on top of it was the young Grindelwald daughter. She dove right back into the sea, as the illusions shattered left and right around her.

"That is how you entertain the people with a good show! Not some second rate fireworks", Tristan said with a smirk.

"Nice enough, I have to admit that is good with blowing things up. Remember that fool in Prague, who thought it was a good idea to grope her?" Henri said with a laugh.

"Of course. I have never been prouder of her. It took them nearly two hours to find all of his fingers to reattach them," Tristan replied. He showed a feral smirk as he remembered this past encounter. He rarely had to worry about Cassandra's well being, knowing that she was both able and willing to fend of unwanted advances. "A pity though that she was banned from that dueling competition after that. She couldn't even watch our finale."

Said girl appeared next to them only minutes later, in the company of one of the officials. She sported the largest smile Henri had seen on her in weeks. A smile so radiant that it was infectious and neither Henri nor Tristan could resist it.

"I did it!" She exclaimed triumphantly. "I defeated the monster!"

"Uhm... Cassy..."

"Yes, Henri?"

"There was no monster."

"What do you mean, no monster? I fought against that darn beast for almost four minutes without breathing," Cassandra replied scandalized.

"Sister, there was no monster, just an illusion. They trick the champions, to avoid any dangers for the nearby city." Tristan deadpanned slightly, as he looked at his sister with disbelief. How could she not have realized that?

"Impossible. It was so real. It nearly tore my leg off!"

"Just an illusion, Cassy." Henri said, before he laughed. Her miffed expression was just too funny.

"That's so unfair... all this struggle for nothing? How did you even find out that the monster wasn't real?"

Henri was about to answer, when Tristan beat him to it, "The idiot got swallowed by his monster."

The young Flamel gave Tristan a dirty look, before he corrected, "I knew that it wasn't real before that."

"And how?"

"I couldn't smell it."

"Smell?" Cassandra asked, Henri nodded. "Who in his right mind would go and see if a sea monster smells?"

"Henri," Came the deadpan answer from both Tristan and Henri's parents, who had followed the exchange with obvious amusement.

"Wow, really. Thanks for all this confidence in my abilities." Henri said in mock indignation. He tried to look hurt, but failed at that and started laughing rather quickly.

"So, what was my time? I didn't hear it. Had water in my ears..."

"19 minutes and 9 seconds." Henri said, before he turned towards Tristan again, "Guess that means that you owe me ten coins, my dear friend." He smirked at the boy with obvious satisfaction.

"You bet against me?" She asked Henri in outrage.

"It was nothing personal. Just a small bet that a Flamel would beat a Grindelwald at this task." Henri's smirk did not diminish, not even when he saw the annoyed look on Cassandra's face.

"Yeah well, that means that you won't get a chance to collect that other thing we agreed on before you started." Cassandra stated defiantly. Not that she would have kissed Henri in front of her fiercely overprotective brother, but there had to be some sort of punishment for Henri, for his lack of faith in her abilities.

Henri looked downcast when he heard that and Tristan looked at his sister and the boy with growing distrust. He was no idiot, he knew what Henri and Cassandra did from time to time. But that did not mean that he liked it or would tolerate it happening right in front of him. So the bickering continued back and forth for some more time.

"Enough, children. You have already missed two other champions due to your bickering." Nicholas said sternly, as he decided to be the responsible adult and keep the situation from getting out of control.

When Henri looked down towards the sea, he could see that it was currently Krum's turn. The boy from Hogwarts, Cedric, had already finished his task and stood not far from them, not that any of them would have noticed. The boy was obviously content with talking to his parents.

But Krum... the boy was very driven, they had to give him that. He had partly transformed himself into a shark and was tearing through everything that stood in his way. But unfortunately for him, they had decided to bring back the whirlpools and their dark abysses. He got caught and fell into the darkness. It took him five long minutes to get out and back on track. In the end he finished slightly slower than Cassandra, at just over 20 minutes. Third place, as Cedric had needed nearly 21 minutes before him.

When Krum turned up at the champion's lounge, he only spared one dark look towards Henri, before he left to join his parents. Tristan's presence had an obvious effect on the boy and quickly discouraged any foolish notions he might have had before.

Then it was finally Fleur's turn. Though the school largely considered her to be the lesser of the two Beauxbatons champions, she still walked out, her head held high and a proud smile on her lips. This was her chance. The chance she had been waiting for. The chance to step out of Henri Flamel's overbearing shadow. The chance that she was more than pretty face. And Henri kept his fingers crossed for her.

He knew that this task wouldn't be easier for her. Her Veela heritage would be a hindrance. Veela are fire based creatures, with a figurative inner flame, that shone so bright that it attracted all men like moths to the flame. Though water was not harmful for them in any way, they still felt anxious in it. This would put her mental strength to test.

But she showed no sign of fear or hesitation, as she ran into the cool water of the Mediterranean Sea. Everyone could see how she struggled, against the supposed monsters, against her own trepidation, against the time that was relentlessly ticking down. Though she couldn't possibly know how long it had taken the other champions before her to reach their goal, she obviously knew that she had to be quick, to beat Henri.

"She is good." Cassandra commented, as she saw how tense Henri was. It was easy to see that he was at least slightly worried about his closest friend. Most other girls would have found it disturbing, to know that the boy they like is actually this close to another girl, that isn't a relative of his. Cassandra, though, only saw his commitment to his friendship with Fleur as another endearing trait of the young Flamel. He was a very loyal friend to those who manage to gain his friendship. Deep down she knew that this group was very small though. Only few people that Henri would count as true friends. And she knew that both her brother and she herself belonged to that group, despite childish rivalries and the turmoil of their emotional entanglement.

"There, she's done it." Tristan said, "A courageous effort, though her time leaves much to be desired."

"She finished this task, that's all that counts. And she is still in fourth place now. She will triumph in one of the next tasks, I'm sure about that. She is competitive enough." Henri said, as he grinned. Oh yes, Fleur wouldn't stop until she was on top. She wouldn't just accept the fourth place without a fight.

Moments later the girl was brought to the other champions. Fleur sported a relieved, albeit weary smile. She stumbled lightly, as she approached her friends. The task had taken its toll on her, but she did not fall, she stood straight, as she reached Henri.

"You did it, Fleur. Despite the unfair disadvantage for a girl of your heritage. Well done." Henri said, before he embraced his best friend gently.

"Huh, you ever doubted my will to succeed?" Fleur said tiredly.

"Won't happen again." Henri promised, before he let out a happy laugh and helped Fleur to reach the nearby chairs, so she could rest for a bit. "But tell me, why hasn't your family come to cheer for you today?" It was quite curious. He had half expected to see little Gabrielle today, but she hadn't come. Neither had her parents.

"Papa has a meeting with the Minister that couldn't be rescheduled. And Maman has taken little Gabrielle to visit grand-mere, who has been sick for some time now. They were sad that they couldn't come today, but I understand their reasons." Fleur said sadly. "But they will hear about my success and they will contact me no doubt."

"A pity, I was really looking forward to seeing the midget again." Henri said, before he laughed lightly. "Gabrielle would have enjoyed this spectacle." Fleur also smiled, as they both knew that Gabrielle would have enjoyed seeing the school and it's many guests. She still had some years before she would go to school herself, so this would also have been her first visit.

"Well, isn't that a sight. I didn't know that they still sacrifice young girls for some idiotic ritual." Tristan said, as he looked down towards the beach, where the last champion now stood.

"Not a sacrifice, but a huge mistake. Their safety precautions were so faulty, that someone managed to enter a fourteen year old girl into this tournament." Cassandra replied.

Tristan shook his head in disbelief, as he watched the young girls struggle. "She has courage. Quite impressive. But will it be enough to keep her going when she meets her monster?"

"I just hope she isn't as foolish as her father." Henri muttered. Though the risk during this task was small, the stress was extreme. In or under the water the monster was frighteningly real. He was lucky to face it above the waves, where he could find its only flaw... but under water. This task wasn't about courage, it was about fear. "But I'm surprised, Tristan."

"And why is that?"

"How comes that you haven't heard about the great travesty that has happened during the selection of the champions? I mean, it was all over the newspapers."

Tristan chuckled humorlessly, before he answered curtly, "I've been... busy. Wasn't home in over a month..." He saw that both Henri and his sister looked at him questioningly, but a quick notion with his head made it clear that he would not elaborate on this subject.

"It's over." Fleur said sadly, as they saw Erica's struggle to get out of the water.

"Now we witness the terror of an unprepared child. Nice effort, but she is too young to brave such a monster and too inexperienced to see through the illusion or to find a way around it." Tristan said darkly, as he watched the young Potter girl crawl onto the shore. "You all may hide it well, but it is still visible in your eyes. The fear. The fear of a threat far greater than anything you have ever faced before. They have truly outdone themselves with this task."

"Just what are you talking about, Tristan?" Henri asked suspiciously.

But the boy merely shook his head and smiled almost ruefully. "I'm sorry. One day you might understand, but for now you should enjoy your last school year." He sighed, as he turned towards his sister, "I have to go now, Cassy. I only got a short break to see your task, but duty calls." He hugged her tightly, before he approached Henri and placed a firm hand on his shoulder, "And you better keep my sister safe, Henri."

"Sure, Tristan. No harm will befall her if I can prevent it. I promise."

"Good. Well then, farewell everyone. Until next time." Without waiting for a response he apparated away.

"Say, Cassandra, what is Tristan's current job?" Henri asked after some moments of silence.

"I... don't really know. He is very tight lipped about it. But as far as I've heard it is somehow connected to our home country's law enforcement." The girl replied hesitantly. She, too, was surprised by her brother's rather somber attitude at the end. She had not seen him very often after he had graduated, but when they did meet, he was usually cheerful and witty... but she resolved that she would not ponder this too much at the moment. There was enough time to do that, once she had returned home.

"Well I believe we should also take our leave," Henri's father said. The famous alchemist had pointedly ignored everything Tristan had said, as well as his strange behavior. Henri couldn't help himself but feel suspicious. His father obviously knew more about Tristan's current occupation than he let on. "You did well today, my son. I'm proud of you. Keep this up and you will win this tournament."

His wife, Perenelle hugged Henri good bye. "Take care, Henri. And please, don't cause Olympe too much trouble this year." She laughed as she saw the mischievous smirk on her son's face and ruffled his hair, before she stepped away from him.

Then she also gave Fleur a brief hug. The girl was her son's closest friend and confidant, as well as the most frequent guest at their home. She knew Fleur well and was quite fond of her and her influence on Henri. But before Perenelle rejoined her husband, she also hugged Cassandra, much to the girl's surprise. As she was close to the girl, she whispered into her ear, "Do me a favor my dear, please keep my son out of trouble. We both know how much he tends to cause it. And he needs a strong woman in his life to guide him."

Cassandra's surprise wore of quickly and she gave a silent 'Sure' as reply to the woman's request. Perenelle smiled broadly at her, before she returned to Nicholas and both disappeared the same way Tristan had before.

"What did she tell you?" Henri asked curiously. He had seen that his mother had whispered something, but he had not understood it.

Cassandra smirked impishly, before she replied, "Oh, that is nothing you should worry about. Just silly women's talk, that's all."

"Oh really?" He did not believe even one word of that. "Not any inappropriate questions about our current relationship?"

"Nope." She replied almost too quickly. The light blush on her cheeks though gave away, that his guess wasn't too far away from the truth.

He sighed. She wouldn't tell him. He would have to think of another way to find out. But first this task had end formally. The scores would be announced soon, now that all champion's had their try. And then... then there would be a big party. Oh he already anticipated the big celebration of this first challenge. Especially with him as the current leader in this competition. Oh yes, he loved the student parties here at Beauxbatons.

No more thoughts about Tristan's strange behavior, his mother's words or Erica's failure were spent. All he had in mind now, was to get to the big party and enjoy his day. It would be even better this time, now that Cassandra would be there as well. Life was good and just maybe this Tournament would not be as much of a bother as he had feared at first.


	11. Chapter 11

"But this is too hard. How am I supposed to keep up with all of you, when you have already learned so much more?" Erica whined, during one of the few breaks Henri allowed her during their training.

She really didn't want to sound like a spoiled child, especially in front of her brother. No matter what Henri might claim, she still saw him for what he was. Harry Potter. But telling him this would only lead to trouble. He was annoyed enough already. Had it not been for her headmaster, Henri wouldn't even bother teaching her anything. She was grateful for what he did for her, but she just couldn't fulfill his insane requirements.

"Complaining, complaining. Stop talking about doing things and do them." Henri replied, as he watched her, bored by her lack of ambition. "Do you know why you failed during the first task?"

"Because I don't know as many spells as the rest of you," Erica replied hesitantly.

"Wrong," She flinched when she heard the disapproval in his voice. "You could have finished the task without casting even one spell. They did not test your magical prowess, they tested our courage in the face of danger. You gave up, at the sight of the first threat."

"But the monster..."

"The monster was very realistic, yes, even I have to admit that they had me fooled and I pride myself to be very apt at using illusions." Not to mention that it vexed him to no end that he had yet to find out which Master of Illusions had cast the spells for the first task. But no matter, he continued and pulled out his wand, waving it lightly, as he muttered only one word, Mirage. Suddenly Erica saw not one, but three Henris before her. The original and two flawless copies. "An illusion tricks our senses, but it always has its weaknesses."

"But how am I supposed to find those weaknesses?"

The first of three Henris answered, as all three started to walk around her in a circle, "To win a fight you need more than a lot of fancy spells."

"You need more than pure magical prowess." the second Henri said.

"Control yourself and you control the fight." concluded the third, before all three spoke together, "Watch your enemy and you will find his weakness."

Suddenly the illusions faded away, like smoke in the wind, leaving only the true Henri behind. "You got swept away in the current of your fear. Learn to use it, then you will have a chance to survive the next tasks."

He wasn't so sure if that alone would be enough for her. Despite the training she must have received from her father, she was woefully unaware of what happened outside of the safe confines of her school and family. He doubted that her parents had allowed her out of their sight for long. He had suffered under their protectiveness himself. And he knew that the first task was nothing but a childish game. The true highlight would follow. He expected the third of fourth would be the most dangerous... and he had a very bad premonition about what it would be. Without any real wordly experience, the girl would suffer in this tournament.

"With a calm mind and a keen eye you can find the weakness, even in the greatest illusion."

"So you will teach me to see through the illusions?" She sounded almost hopeful, only to be shot down by him again.

He did not have to say anything, a laugh was that was needed to make his standpoint clear.

"Never expect a duelist to teach you how to defeat him. Even if he claims to teach you, he will always set you up for failure!" Another person had joined them, a girl.

"Céleste, what a surprise to see you here. I thought you had a Potions lesson with Fleur," Not that he would forget. Fleur had raged for hours, once she had found out that she would have to share these advanced lessons with the one girl she despised absolutely. And there were only four seventh years students in that class.

"It's a shame, but our poor professor had troubled getting up this morning. His back aches and all. I'd rather believe that he just didn't want to put up with us. Fleur nearly blew up the whole potion's lab."

"Oh really?" Now that was a story he would like to hear. Fleur had missed to mention this mishap.

"But please, don't let me interrupt your lesson!"

"Stop looking like that," Henri admonished her.

"Like what?" she asked almost innocently.

"Like the cat that got the canary," He replied with a sigh.

Céleste laughed lightly, as she heard him, "Oh please, gracious Paladin, forgive me for watching you with such interest. But I couldn't help myself but wonder." she waited for some moments, obviously hoping for him to say something, but he only looked at her in boredom. "I never would have pegged you for one of her fans," she pointed at Erica, as she said this, "in fact I was lead to believe that you only have a thing for blondes. With Fleur and that Grindelwald girl, if you understand what I mean... But as it looks you also like the darker shades. My had I known about that before Fleur got to you."

Henri groaned. This wasn't what he wanted to hear this morning. People misinterpreting his relationship with Erica Potter was not good at all. He didn't want to burden his own reputation with this whole Girl-who-lived mumbo-jumbo, not to mention that even the notion of any sort of relationship would lead to a confrontation with James Potter. And Henri had promised Uncle Albus not to maim the man. But James Potter being James Potter would make that unbelievably difficult.

"I am teaching her... well I attempt to teach her how to survive this insane tournament. Uncle Albus somehow talked me into this," Henri replied morosely.

Céleste said nothing, instead she walked past him and approached Erica. Henri wasn't really sure what this girl was planning, but he got a very bad feeling when he saw the impish smirk on her lips and the mirth in her eyes, after she had whispered something into the younger girl's ears. Whatever she had told her, Henri had the distinct feeling that it would be better for him to leave.

"Seeing as you are not ready yet, we will stop here for today. Think about my words and try to learn something yourself. We will continue in a few days." He said, before he quickly walked away. Céleste's mocking snickering could be heard as he left. But Henri did not really care. He just wondered what he had done to end up surrounded by difficult women...


	12. Chapter 12

"Henri?" No answer came, as Achille searched for his friend. No one had seen Henri for hours, not even Fleur knew where he had gone. It wasn't that unusual for Henri to be untraceable. He always did whatever he considered as worthy of his time, even if that meant open conflict with some of his professors. Achille knew that all too well, most of the time he was with Henri when the boy left to find himself some form of entertainment.

But where was he now? No one knew and Achille had already searched every corner of the school... except for the potion labs. But who would willingly spend his day in a potions lab?

"Close the door!" Yeah well, Henri obviously was just one such person, Achille thought.

The boy did as he was bidden and proceeded onward into the dark room. No one but Henri was here, which wasn't odd at all, considering the day and hour. Other students would spend a Friday evening with their friends and not with scholastic activities.

"Boy, it's cold in here!" Achille complained as he shuddered. The room was almost freezing. But Henri was not bothered by that at all. He had discarded his jacket and rolled up the sleeves of his shirt, as he tinkered with something at one of the tables. "Why does it have to be so cold in here? Potions labs are supposed to be hot and muggy."

"Not all potions need heat, my friend," Henri chided him, his gaze never leaving his work. "And the one I am just working on needs to be near freezing. Now hand me the mortar and the pestle."

Achille handed his friend the mortar and watched with interest as Henri put some finishing touches to a small cauldron before him. But soon his mind started to drift away, as he felt bored in the lab, without anyone willing to talk to him. But his daydreams didn't last for long, as Henri suddenly shoved a filled vial in his hands.

"Drink!" Henri said simply.

Achille sniffed at it, wondering what exactly had Henri had given him. "What is it?"

"Drink. It's not poisonous."

Though he was not fully convinced, Achille still downed the contents of the vial with one large gulp, before he started coughing. "This tastes wretched..."

"Do you feel different?"

"Different?"

"Has your mind cleared. Do you feel any less... insane?"

"Why should I feel insane," Achille asked in his confusion. "What exactly does this stuff do?"

Henri didn't answer immediately, instead, he looked as if he was in deep thought. He muttered something that Achille could not decipher.

"Henri?"

"Yeah, yeah. I just wondered what has gone wrong this time... Maybe I should use less of those mushrooms. Papa has warned me that they might interfere with the strength of the potion... but they also help to make the mixture more stable... Merde... maybe I should try a new catalyst to..." Henri said before he rummaged through a stack of papers next to him. He took one sheet and crossed something out before he added something else beneath.

"What exactly was supposed to happen?" Achille felt slightly more uncomfortable now. Maybe it was not a good idea to drink his friend's experiment.

"The potion is meant to cure mental illnesses. Papa said that it will take me at least another decade to perfect the recipe, I told him I will do it in half that time. Once I have finished this project, I will get my mastery in Alchemy."

"And why exactly did you give me that potion?"

"I would be a terrible friend, should I not try to cure your mental illness," Henri replied offhandedly.

"My mental illness? What mental illness? I am perfectly healthy and sane, thank you very much."

Henri smirked, "No you're not. The way you follow Fleur and Céleste like some lovesick puppy, it is only one indication of mental deficiency."

"Hey! One is a god damn Veela! A Veela, Henri! How can anyone not worship the very ground she walks on?"

"Denial of the obvious self-degradation... attempt forty-nine was a complete failure as it seems," Henri said with a weary sigh.

"HEY!"

"I will have to rethink the entire formula. Damn and I had hoped that this would actually be a breakthrough..."

"Why am I your guinea pig?" Achille demanded to know.

"Because potions and fireball throwing Veela's don't mix," Henri replied drily.

Achille was silent for some moments, as he tried to understand what Henri had just said. Had he actually considered asking Fleur to test his potions? Fleur, the girl who has burned down more than one potions lab... Then it hit him, Henri had not even asked him at to help at all!

"This sucks... seriously. Why are you wasting your time in this dark room, doing something that will require at least another decade of research?"

Henri stopped as he heard Achille's question, a thoughtful look on his face. He tapped his right index finger against his chin, as he contemplated possible answers before he merely shrugged.

"I have to do something that has to do with my masteries while I'm here, Achille. Can't just run around and get wasted every day like certain other seventh year students." Henri replied stoically.

"In other words, you pissed off the headmistress... again..."

"I may or may not have, totally accidentally, of course, charmed her last dinner to dancing the waltz... in her soup..." Henri replied calmly as if it was the most natural thing to happen.

"What? Where have I been when that happened?"

"In bed, trying desperately to ignore your hangover from your last outing with Iris and Rainier..." He chuckled. "And this whole mess wasn't even my fault. I merely tried to help."

"Huh..."

"Her quail was about to explode, which would have created a real mess. That it suddenly started dancing the waltz in the middle of her soup was not my intention, I just mispronounced the spell..."

"You... mispronouncing anything?"

"I've been eating and had no time to swallow. At least she knows that I tried to help, otherwise I would still be busy cleaning every mirror in the Hall of Mirrors... without any spells. But I have to show a little more enthusiasm for my school work or else my mother will get involved... and that would be quite unpleasant." He shuddered as he imagined that particular conversation.

Perenelle Flamel can be a real menace when she wants to be. Though he would have liked to see what she might do to James Potter. She held a grudge against the man for what he had done to him as a child. Had it not been for Henri's father, she would have already hexed him during the first task. Now that would have been quite the show.

"Any lead on who had the brilliant idea to create exploding quails?"

"Some of our guests. We can't prove it yet, but they will soon get what is coming to them. But I have to commend them, that was some excellent spell work. To charm the dinner to explode and shower the whole area in glitter, that requires talent and creativity."

He looked at his work one more time before he finally decided to abandon his efforts for this day. He would have to start from scratch... again. And he needed a clear head for that.

"So, what are we going to do now?" Henri asked his friend, once he had made sure that all potions and ingredients had been preserved with proper charms.

"Woo the fair ladies?" Achille asked before he remembered, "Ah, yes. You already have a girl."

"We are not talking about Cassandra!"

"Don't be mad. I am the one who should be jealous. Cassandra Grindelwald is a truly beautiful girl." Achille let out a long and suffering sigh, "And now even Celeste seems to try and get your attention."

"I have no idea what Celeste is planning and I really lack the time to care for it."

"Of course," Achille said with badly feigned acceptance, "But tell me one thing. How do you get those girls to like you? Fleur, Cassandra, Celeste. Beautiful girls, all clamoring for your attention."

"If you value your manhood you should not repeat this statement in front of them. They will take offense."

Achille shuddered in fear. He knew very well that his friend was right. All these girls would hurt him, no doubt about that. One would throw fireballs, the other is, to his knowledge, a proven duelist like Henri and Celeste... he'd rather not find out what she would be capable of.

"Guess you are right, Henri. But you and that Grindelwald girl... is that... official?"

"At the moment we are..." Henri stopped. He wasn't even sure how to answer this question. "Hell, I have no idea what we are. It is complicated."

"But you like her, right?"

"Achille?"

"Yeah?"

"I won't discuss my love life with a boy whose only experience with romance comes from less reputable magazines and mundane adult tv-shows," Henri said.

"I... oh well..." Much could be said about Achille, but he was not a complete idiot. He knew when to stop arguing with Achille. After years of knowing each other, he had learned that sometimes it was better to be silent, especially when he had no real argument left.

* * *

"Why do you allow this french upstart anywhere near my daughter?" James asked his former headmaster. He had been angered when he heard that Albus had assigned some foreign student, a rival in the tournament no less, to help his beloved daughter. It should be him to teach Erica how to survive this tournament.

"James, you know very well that you cannot teach your daughter. You are a teacher, you are not allowed to interfere with the champions." Albus replied in his best grandfatherly voice. He tried to avoid that James might feel patronized by him, but it wasn't clear how the man might react sometimes.

"I know. Damn it, I know that I am not allowed to help my daughter. But why... why did you choose this arrogant french child to sabotage Erica's chances at winning this tournament?"

"James, Erica has no chance to win. Not against this competition and not with the tasks ahead of her. Henry is not here to help her win, he is here to help her survive. And there are only a few people I trust as explicitly as Henry Flamel. His mother and father have been my friends for a very long time."

James knew this all too well. Everyone who worked with Albus Dumbledore knew that he was rather involved in the life of Henry Flamel, the only known son of the legendary alchemist Nicholas Flamel. The old headmaster loved to tell the stories of the boys exploits when the teachers dine together.

"Erica is very skilled and years ahead of her peers. My daughter..."

"Your daughter has never seen the world. She has never left the safe confines of your home. She knows the spells, she knows the history, but she lacks the wisdom to use them." Albus said, hoping that James would see reason. "And with the tasks ahead of her, she needs to learn the common sense she is severely lacking at the moment."

"I still can't believe what they have chosen for the third task." It was shocking, it was irresponsible. To break a taboo just for the sake of a competition between schools. The French were truly insane.

Even Albus shared these thoughts, though he knew why this task had been chosen. It would test the skills of the champions like no other test they could have thought of. To conquer their fear in the abyss. But the risk seemed too high for a mere inter-school competition.

"Erica is in great danger, James. But it is not the tournament that worries me. We still have not found out how her name ended up in the cup and why."

"There has to be a Death Eater here. And we both know who it is." James scowled darkly, as he said this.

"Igor was one of them, yes, but I believe that he has repent..."

"Like Snape? Professor, not everyone is redeemable. Some just like and cheat to avoid having to face the consequences of their crimes."

"Severus made some mistakes in his youth, but even the best of us can do inexcusable things, James, as you well know."

James turned away, either to hide his anger or shame. It wasn't always clear how he dealt with his own past. Albus knew that Lily had suffered greatly once she had realized what James had done to their son. But had James really accepted his mistake and tries to make up for it... or is it all just for his wife and daughters? Everyone knew that James would do anything for them...

"I don't trust that man., James muttered angrily.

Albus sighed, as he had to realize that any attempt to convince James of Severus or Igor's repentance would be a waste of time.

"But I have already asked Sirius for help. He and Amelia will do a thorough background check on all the people here. If there is anyone connected to Death Eaters or any other dark organization, they will find out."

"Involving Aurors in this is most unwise, James. They are needed elsewhere and our friends here in France will not look favorably on any interference of our own law enforcement."

"I will do anything to keep my daughter safe." Was James' sole reply, before he stormed off. Stubborn as he was, Albus couldn't even fault him all that much. If only he wasn't so narrow minded...


	13. Chapter 13

"So that's the guy you are so angry about, James? He's just a kid," Sirius Black commented, as he and James watched the champions in the center of the arena.

The time for the second task had arrived. A test of the mind, as the French had called it. Whatever this would truly entail remained to be seen. Many more guests were present this time, a testament to the increased public interest, after the initial reports in the newspapers.

"The Flamel boy is trying to sabotage my daughter's chances, Sirius. And the headmaster even lets him. He is partial in this case. He prefers him, I've seen it when he speaks about him. Dumbledore has taken a shine to the boy and he would do anything to see him succeed," James muttered angrily.

"You are being ridiculous here, James," Sirius replied.

But his childhood friend wouldn't see reason. James had always been bullheaded, but when it comes to the safety of his daughter, his stubbornness reaches extreme levels. Ever since the dark lord had attacked her, James hadn't been the same.

Sirius returned his attention to the arena before them. It was a rectangular field, no less than a hundred and fifty meters in length. Most of the ground was covered in tiles, a hundred tiles to reach the end, six tiles from left to right. And all the tiles had been inscribed with runes or other scribbles he couldn't really discern from this far away. But it was a curious sight. After the illusions during the first task, he was curious what the French had cooked up this time.

The three headmasters finally made an appearance on the grand stage, at the other side of the arena. Together with a rotund man, some French official from their ministry.

"Welcome, honored students and guests of the Triwizard Tournament. Today we will observe the second task, a challenge that will showcase the wisdom, knowledge and common sense of our champions," Madame Maxime, the headmistress of Beauxbatons announced. "Down in the arena you all can see the Puzzle of Prometheus. Only one path will lead to enlightenment, all the others will end in the darkness of ignorance."

"Darkness of Ignorance… sounds almost like one of Minnie's threats when we were still students," Sirius joked. Even James couldn't stop himself from chuckling, as he was reminded of the many stern lectures they had received from their former teacher, the current acting Headmistress of Hogwarts, Minerva McGonagall.

"Why do I get the feeling that my daughter will be at disadvantage again?" James mused.

"Maybe because she is only a fourth year and I highly doubt that even a seventh-year student will have an easy time here," Sirius replied, "Poor Erica, but we always knew that she wouldn't stand a chance to win this thing. Not with the likes of Flamel, Krum, and Grindelwald in the competition."

"At Hogwarts, we would have seen to it that the tasks are fair for all..."

"Look, they are about to begin," Sirius interrupted him. He was getting really tired of the constant grumbling and really hoped that James would just quit this as soon as possible.

Below them, the first of the champions had entered the arena. It was the original Beauxbatons champion, Fleur Delacour. The girl entered the arena filled with resolve and no visible sign of nervousness or fear. The only thing she seemed to radiate was defiance. And how could she show anything else? So far Sirius had only heard the people talk about Flamel as the French champion. She had been the one chosen, but it was her friend who was regarded as the champion everyone wanted to see here.

Defiance against all expectations and the feeling of disregard from her peers, Sirius could somehow relate to her. When he had been her age he had seen a similar fate, albeit it had been his family who had discarded him for the sake of someone else. And he defied them in every way possible, just the memory brought a smirk to his lips.

"Just what is it with these tiles?" James wondered, "Are they enchanted?"

"Indeed, they are."

Both James and Sirius suddenly turned around, when Headmaster Dumbledore appeared behind them, dressed in robes of the most garish colors imaginable... They could have sworn that they had seen him on the dais with the other officials only moments ago, but now he was here with them.

"Shouldn't you be with the other judges?" Sirius asked.

"Not at all, my boy. We are permitted to walk around and watch this task from all angles. It makes it easier to see how the students perform, so we can judge them justly," Dumbledore told him, as he began to stroke his long beard in a thoughtful manner.

"So what exactly do you test here?" Sirius inquired. He had sadly missed the first of the tasks, but now that he was here, he wouldn't miss the others if he could help it.

"We have a hundred rows of six tiles each. Depending on their choices, the champions can move forward or backward or not at all. Here the students can show whether or not they have the right mind to use their magic and the knowledge at their disposal," the old wizard said sagely, as he watched Fleur's struggle. Though, the enigmatic smile on the old man's lips beckoned the question what else this task was supposed to test...

Henri spent the last moments before his turn in absolute silence. This time he had been chosen to go last. Just his luck. He wasn't sure whether this was a good or a bad thing, but it allowed him time to sort his thoughts and calm down, something much needed before a possibly dangerous challenge.

One after another he had watched the other champions leave. All of them had been nervous. Erica had been a wreck, again. This whole competition was just too far out of her league and it made it obvious that she has not faced too much opposition this far in her life. He wondered what her many adoring fans would think about her, had they gotten a chance to see her here, mumbling to herself like an addled madwoman... This wasn't the proud and heroic heroine who defied death and the supposedly strongest dark lord of all times. It was easy to forget, that she is just an ordinary school girl. One who had been pushed too far without getting the chance to test her skills in a real do or die situation. He sighed, as he realized that he probably should address this problem in her next training session… Maybe he should bring this to Uncle Albus' attention as well… though, he wondered how this could have eluded the old wizard in the first place.

"Flamel, you are next. Get ready," one of the teachers said, as he came to fetch him.

"Any chance you tell me how the others have done so far?" Henri asked. The teacher merely rewarded the question with a blank look, "Right! None of my business." For a moment he wondered whether Madame Maxime was right and he was a bit too familiar with the members of the faculty… on the other hand, the treatment was mutual after all. And he wasn't much of a student anymore.

"Nervous, Flamel?"

"Me? Have you ever faced a livid member of the Grindelwald family? Let me tell you, I have faced two and I'm happy to have survived with all my limbs and my manhood intact," Henri said, "Cassandra can be downright vicious when she gets pissed. Even Tristan looks like a docile puppy in comparison. Nothing you have in this tournament should scare me that easily."

The teacher looked at him in the oddest way, as if he had just turned blue or something of the sort. Maybe he was a little nervous, why else would he babble like this, but he was sure that this task couldn't be scary. A test of the mind, how bad could that be? At worst he would be forced to write another exam in history… he shuddered as he remembered those.

"Come now, let's not keep your adoring audience waiting," the teacher said with a chuckle.

"Right, lead the way," Henri said, as he followed the man out of the room.

Moments later they had left the confines of the waiting room and entered the arena. Again the cheering of the crowd was almost deafening, but he had gotten used to that after one too many dueling competitions. But he could see that there were a lot more guests this time. And a lot more reporters as it seems. Apparently, the continuation of the Flamel-Grindelwald rivalry was worth being mentioned in the newspapers, even if the Grindelwald in question is not the oldest son and heir.

"So, what do want me to do? Recite some poems?"

"No, Flamel, just make sure to get to the other side before the time is up and try not to die," the teacher replied, "Good luck, you're gonna need it."

"Just what is it with the teachers and their delight at seeing me struggle this year?" Henri wondered but shook that thought from his mind as soon as he approached the tiles on the ground.

"Runes," he said, as he looked at the first tile in front of him, "And that has to be the most awful painting I've ever seen," he said as he looked at another.

He wondered what they really wanted from him here. There were a lot more rows following and at the other end stood a large hourglass. The mind… did they mean knowledge or astuteness? Just what… then he looked at the second row. The runes and pictures were different there, but they did fit with the ones in the first row.

"A fable? You want me to tell you a story?" he wondered.

He studied the first row again, walked from on end to the other before he saw a pattern. A story he remembered from his earlier childhood. An idle tale... The witch and the chevalier, a very famous story told to children in the magical families in France. But something was odd. The story seemed distorted, the pictures and runes were mismatched at times.

He looked towards the hourglass again and realized that he would have to move soon. Even the crowd had gone almost silent, as they waited for him to make his move. He was running out of time. But what to do? Just leap forward and hope to land safely? It couldn't be that easy.

He stepped onto the first tile, the one that depicted what he remembered as the beginning of the fable. The first row seemed to fit, but the second was all twisted and wrong. The question now was whether he was supposed to jump to the next or rearrange the whole row.

He opted for the latter and lifted his wand to lift the tiles from the ground. It took him a moment, to arrange them in the correct order before he placed the tiles back on the ground. Then he took a step forward, holding his breath as he waited for something to happen. But there was no reaction, except for the return of the thunderous applause.

"Two down, ninety-eight to go," he muttered. He groaned as he looked to the sky. To his surprise, he saw that above him, the events of the fable were shown in a very detailed illusion, much to the enjoyment of the crowd. With every

"So I am the entertainment in more than just one way, good to know."

He proceeded as he had done before. One row after another. It was an arduous task, as he had to remember the fable he had last heard as a little boy and decipher the runes. Always knowing that his time was running short.

It was in row forty-nine, that he made his first mistake. Two runes misinterpreted and he ended up with the wrong tile to step on. The moment he set foot on the tile, it exploded beneath him. He would have been caught in the explosion, had it not been for his honed reflexes.

"Merde, this has to be Gascard's doing. Only he would make things explode," he cursed. His damn defense teacher must have had a hand in this task. The man had tormented… trained his class for years with exploding furniture and floors, when he taught them the basics of magical defense against cursed rooms and objects.

Then he looked at the mistake he had made. "You've got be kidding me, on syllable and he rides on a rat… I hate Gaelic runes," he muttered. "At the least, it amuses the audience."

He quickly rectified his mistake and pressed on. Time was running out and he wasn't sure whether he would make it to the other side. It would be hard, even if he made no more mistakes.

So he struggled and toiled, row after row, to continue with the fable. He avoided any more mistakes, but the extra attention he had to pay had cost him too much time. In the end, he had reached row ninety-one, when the sound of a horn announced that the time was up. The entire arena around him glowed in a blinding white light before he could feel the familiar sensation of port key travel.

Once his eyesight had returned, he found himself surrounded by his fellow champions once more. Fleur and Cassandra were in one corner, laughing boisterously. Krum was off in another corner, brooding, as he always did, though the moment Henri had appeared, the Durmstrang champion glared at him with a fiery passion. Last he saw the two Hogwarts' champions, both sitting together, albeit quietly. At the very least Erica did look better than she had done after the first task, likely due to the lack of fear-inducing illusions.

"Oh, gracious rat knight, what a sorry show you have shown us down there," Cassandra said mockingly, as she and Fleur approached the boy. "It was by far the most entertaining."

"Laugh all you want, I doubt you did any better with this stupid fable," Henri muttered.

"Everyone got a different story," Fleur told him, "They chose something each champion would recognize."

"And I got this stupid story for little children?"

"Simple story for the simple mind, my dear," Cassandra told him.

He didn't respond at first, instead, he grabbed the Grindelwald girl and pulled her close, "So a simpleton can capture your interest," he muttered, "So maybe even Krum still has a chance."

She looked angrily at him, though her fury was quickly forgotten when Krum's temper seemed to explode. The boy charged at him, though in the last moment he seemed to cling to his common sense and left the champion's loge instead.

"Do you have to rile him up like this," Cassandra groaned, "Now I have to deal with his foul mood when I return to my fellow students."

"He wouldn't dare to try anything," Henri told her, "I won't let him."

"And you will do what exactly? Save me like a shining knight on his impressive… rat stallion?" Cassandra asked as she tried to look at least somewhat grim. But when Fleur started laughing uproariously, she couldn't contain her own mirth.

"It was one mistake," Henri groused, "It's not like you made it through."

"Oh, but we did. Both of us," Fleur told him. "And look at the decision of the judges, you are only third this time."

"Oh come on!" Henri muttered. This outcome insulted his pride… or maybe just his competitive streak. He wasn't so sure. But after this second task, he was now tied with Cassandra, with Fleur and Krum following not far behind. The only one who seemed unable to keep up was Erica, but this wasn't surprising, she wasn't here to win, but to survive.

"Looks like you will not dominate this competition, after all, Henri," Cassandra told him. "Tristan will be so happy when he hears that I have beaten you."

"Let him have his little fun," Henri muttered, as he tightened he pulled Cassandra even closer to him. Much to his enjoyment, she had yet to struggle against his hold. And despite the possible attention they might get here, she seemed not bothered at all.

"Alright, love birds, you should probably break this up. The press will be here any moment for their own little inquisition."

Henri and Cassandra looked at each other for a moment, before they reluctantly moved away from each other. But the sudden smirk on their lips was quite disconcerting for Fleur to watch.

"How about another contest," Henri proposed.

"First one to reach the city?" Cassandra asked. Henri nodded, "You're going down."

Before Fleur could even raise her voice in protest, both Henri and Cassandra had made a run for it, leaving her and the two Hogwarts champions at the mercy of the journalists who seemed only interested in the friendly rivalry between two of the most prominent magical families on the continent.

* * *

 

"They will be berating us for ours when we return," Cassandra moaned, as she and Henri ambled down the promenade in Cannes.

They had just run off after the Second Task, just as the nosy reporters had made their way over to the champions for the obligatory inquisition that followed every part of the Triwizard Tournament. It was an easy decision to make, to avoid the vultures as best as possible, as they had become rather obtrusive, whenever they were allowed to enter the school and the surrounding property.

Grindelwald and Flamel, two names which would easily sell newspapers. The former would forever be tainted by the actions of Gellert Grindelwald, one of the most dangerous dark lords in recorded history, the latter name was shrouded in mystery, as the famous alchemist Nicholas Flamel and his wife had rarely made an appearance in public. In fact, before the existence of their son had been made public, the general public hadn't even known whether the Flamels had survived the ravages of the last century.

But now, with the youngest generation of both Flamels and Grindelwalds in the spotlight once more, all the different magical communities in Europe and beyond tried to catch a glimpse at the closest thing their world had akin to wizarding royalty. Feared, revered, reviled and cherished, as they would always be. The few dynasties that would be known around the whole world.

"We can always just leave. A week, a month, forever. My parents wouldn't be too surprised, should I decided to leave France and travel for a bit," Henri told her, "We could be across the Atlantic in less than a day if we leave now. One of my father's former apprentices teaches at Ilvermorny now, so we might go and see how they teach magic in the new world."

"And then what, Henri?" Her doubt was plainly visible on her face, as she watched him, one eyebrow raised in question, her lips pressed into a thin line that showed her discontent.

"Then we do what all boys and girls our age should do, we have fun together," he said, as he threw an arm around Cassandra's shoulder and pulled her close. "If the school doesn't interest you, then we can always travel the mundane world. It's not like my family lacks the funds for a very long vacation."

She sighed, as she removed his arm and gave him a reproachful look, "We can't just abandon everyone. And you know my family, they would try to get me back home. They are rather clingy most of the time."

"Just let me dream for a bit before you crush me with reality," he groaned. "Come, let's find a good restaurant, I'm famished." He smiled at her, a gesture which she readily reciprocated before he took her hand and lead her towards one of the better restaurants on the promenade.

It was one of his favorite places in the city to go for dinner. Run by a squib grandson of one his father's former apprentices, he would always get a nice table and the best service. It was one of those perks he got for being a Flamel. Sure, they had to find themselves a quiet place to transfigure their clothes into something more befitting of the locale, but it would be a nice evening.

"So, you come here often?" Cassandra asked, as she finally walked into the restaurant on Henri's arm.

"Once or twice a year," Henri mused, "maybe a bit more often. Mostly when I have a good reason to play dress up. And yes, boredom is a sufficient reason." He laughed idly as they were lead to his favorite table.

"It is hard to picture you as the kind of person to enjoy such an upscale place," Cassandra told him with a laugh. "But I have to admit, this is a pretty nice place. The view is wonderful."

"Sure it is," Henri replied. "After the all the crap we have to endure because of this tournament, we deserve some fun."

"This is your idea of fun?"

"Oh, lovely Cassandra, this is only the beginning. Let me show the wonders of this city's nightlife."

So they enjoyed their time feasting after the bothersome second task. Here, in the upscale restaurant, away from the prying eyes of the magical world, they could be just what they wanted to be. Two adolescents, away from the immediate control of their far too famous families.

"And you want me to believe that you only come here once or twice a year… yeah, right," Cassandra said. "Monsieur Flamel this, Monsieur Flamel that. I am almost lead to believe that they know you better than I do."

"Jealous, my dear?" Henri replied, a smug grin on his lips, "This is one of the perks when your father is Nicholas Flamel. About a hundred years or so ago my father helped one of his students to develop a very important potion. Long story short, that man got filthy rich, had kids, who had kids and one of those kids happens to be the squib owner of this restaurant. They wouldn't stop catering to my every whim even if I tried to force them to." Which he had tried, repeatedly. It was kind of embarrassing sometimes.

"Poor you. But I have to admit, this is quite nice," Cassandra told him with a small smile, once they were they finished their food. "Though I had expected you to be a bit less..."

"Posh?" he laughed, "You should know by now that I'm hardly frugal or restrained in most matters."

"Ah, there is the arrogance again. You sound so much like my brother, sometimes I wonder whether there is some sort of mental connection between the two of you. Or maybe you are some sort of long lost brother."

"Brother? Never," Henri said, as he looked at her aghast, "Tristan is a good guy. If he wasn't such a pain in the arse most of the time I would even call him a friend."

"Again, exactly his words. Only he usually adds some more threats about dismembering you if you so much as dare to touch me," Cassandra told him. Her eyes sparkled with mirth, as she looked at him. "I think he knows what we are doing, but tries to lie to himself about it."

Henri sighed deeply, as he watched her, "We wouldn't have this problem if you would just allow me to court you properly."

"We have already talked about this, Henri," Cassandra replied, as she finally looked away from him.

"Yet you never give me a real answer, Cassandra! Do you want me to say it out loud? To yell it from the highest tower at school, so everyone knows how I feel about you?" And he would do it in a heartbeat. It would even be fun. Madame Maxime would surely get a heart attack and find a way to have him upbraided every single day for the rest of his year at Beauxbatons.

"How do you feel about me, you never really said the words either," she replied.

He actually had to take a moment to try and remember whether he had or not. His relationship with Cassandra had grown somewhat oddly and they skipped certain stages of a normal relationship. When he had first met her, she had been the little sister of his greatest rival. It had been a fun pastime to chat with her, especially when it riled Tristan up. From the innocent jests and harmless flirting things had progressed… well, more like escalated somewhat quickly.

"Henri, why do you really want us to work out as a couple? You know that my brother doesn't like it, you know that my family would rather see me married off to someone with more political clout. So just tell me, you and me, why?" Her words came out hoarsely, like a desperate whisper. It was obvious that this had plagued her mind for some time now.

But her family's plans came as quite the surprise. The few times he had met them they seemed quite content with letting him be with their daughter. Or was their relationship merely some childhood folly in the eyes of the Grindelwald family? They had changed after the defeat of Gellert Grindelwald, but they were still quite conservative… maybe far more than he had expected.

"You want me to say it? Fine," he replied brashly. He grasped across the table and took one of her hands in his, "Cassandra, I love you. I can't say when or why this has happened, but I want to be with you. I want to give our relationship a chance."

She remained silent for some time. She looked at him, as he looked at her. Blue eyes staring deeply into green. It was as if she was waiting for him to crack up, for him to tell her that it had been merely a joke made in bad taste. But he looked at her, unflinchingly, his fingers still gently caressing the back of her hand.

"You mean it," she whispered.

"I do. And if I have to duel every man in the world to win your heart, then let them form a line and bite the dust," he told her.

She chuckled weakly, as she saw the determination in his eyes. "Tristan will be the first to follow that invitation. So far my assurance that our… relationship was merely superficial kept him away. But once he hears about your declaration he will be here to kick your ass first thing in the morning..."

"I will welcome the challenge. Maybe we can give those amateurs at school a show at how it's really done," Henri replied with a laugh, "So what is your answer?"

"I… would like to give this a try," she replied. "See where this might lead us."

He noticed how she avoided talking about her feelings. His confession was not reciprocated, but for the moment he would not push her. This was already far more progress than he would have dared to hope for this day. He would get her to admit her own feelings before the last year at school is over.

"Then we should go and enjoy the whole night," he said jovially. "Let me show you how we party here in France." And he was sure that it would be a night to remember.

* * *

"Don't worry, sweetheart, there are still four more tasks. You will catch up to them in no time," Sirius said, as he tried to cheer up Erica.

The girl had been somewhat glum, after finishing last in both tasks. It wasn't as if they had believed that she would stand a chance in the first place. Sirius had never expected her to win, at least not in the way James still does. But despite that, loosing does hurt, even when you never stood a chance in the first place… or maybe just because of that.

"It's alright, Uncle Sirius," the girl assured the man, "I'm just glad that nothing tried to kill me this time..."

"No, it is not alright," James insisted, "Those French are doing this on purpose. Those tasks are not possible for a student with only four years of education. She needs more preparation and training, but all they give her is that Flamel boy who sabotages her every step."

"He is not sabotaging me, dad. He tries to help me. The headmaster trusts him and so do I," his daughter replied defiantly. "If it wasn't for Harry, I wouldn't have done half as well..."

"Harry?" Sirius questioned, a curious look on his face.

Erica looked a bit pale all of a sudden before she stammered an answer, "I… I mean Henri… he sometimes lets me call him Harry… though not very often. I… better go to bed now. I'm tired," she added quickly. She gave both Sirius and James one last hug before she hurried fled the scene.

James had looked angry as he listened to his daughter's rambling, though Sirius was quite sure that it wasn't Erica who would have to endure the brunt of the stubborn man's anger.

"Can you believe it. That bastard is manipulating her! He uses her lost brother to gain her trust! He must think that he can get through with everything, just because of his big name. He isn't any better than Malfoy."

"Careful now, Lucius is a very special brand of slimy and unbearable," Sirius said with a laugh before he sobered up just as quickly. "But you have to stop now and take a deep breath, James. I won't be the one to explain to Lily why you have ended up in a French prison just because you think that all of Erica's struggles are because of one boy."

"You can't be serious!"

"I am Sirius," he replied, laughing again. "Listen, I am here to find out who has entered the little flower's name into this tournament. But from what I have discovered so far, I can say that Henri Flamel has pretty much nothing to do with it."

This seemed to calm James somewhat, which gave Sirius hope that his best friend would come back to his senses sometime soon. He hates being the responsible one in this family. That is Lily's job… or James', whenever Lily is not available. He really should be out there, trying to seduce that pretty French transfiguration substitute teacher with her nice round…

"There is something very wrong with this boy, Sirius. I can't put my finger on it, but he is not normal," James said.

"How can anyone be normal with immortal parents and a name as legendary as his," Sirius snorted, "Not to mention that he has assured that everyone on this planet remembers what the Flamel family has done in the past and will do in the future."

"You almost sound like you admire him," James scoffed.

"A bit, yes. Just look at him. A renown duelist at his age. And he is always surrounded by pretty birds. One of them is even a Veela. A Veela, James! Not even I have ever managed to snag one of those!"

"I don't know why the headmaster puts so much faith in this boy. He is consorting with the heirs of a very dangerous dark lord and keeps secrets that no boy his age should have. But I will find out what he is hiding. Erica's safety might be in jeopardy because of him," James vowed.

Sirius could only shake his head and sigh. His friend was as stubborn as a mule. Maybe he should really get a Bludger and have it hit his friend's head… repeatedly. Or worse for James, maybe it would be a good time to get Lily involved. They had kept her out of the loop for too long and she had only stayed behind so Minnie wouldn't be all alone at Hogwarts… Or maybe it would be better for everyone involved to keep Lily away for a little longer… for security reasons… Merlin has mercy on them, should she find out about what James was about to do...

* * *

It was in the early morning hours when Henri and Cassandra returned from Cannes. They were both exhausted, but it mattered little. They were deliriously happy and had enjoyed the time they had together, without any outside interruption.

But as they returned to school, they split up, to make it easier to return to their respective dorms. And Henri still felt somewhat giddy, so he wanted to take a long walk through the school's sweeping gardens before he would enter the school to meet the firing squad Madame Maxime has most likely prepared just for him.

He enjoyed the cool early air, the fresh breeze that came right from the ocean. It calmed him. And the gardens looked amazing in the pale moonlight, which would soon give away to the first rays of sunlight. He wondered how often he had done this, wandering the gardens, watching for the sun to rise. Far too often… and not often enough, considering that once this year was over, he would only return here when his own children would become students. It was still many months away, but knowing that this part of his life was finally coming to an end was a somewhat strange concept to him.

"Now look what the cat has dragged in!"

Henri looked around, to find the source of the voice, but at first, he couldn't see anyone. He had stopped in front of the school's small lake, which was surrounded by a great many different magical plants and very old trees.

"Looking fancy there. Tonight must have been fun."

He continued his search for the owner of the voice, but at first to no avail. It was a girl and he was pretty sure that he knew her, but maybe his sleep deprived mind was refusing to work at full capacity at that moment. Or maybe it wasn't the lack of sleep, but rather the overabundance of drinks…

"Up here, Henri, seriously," the girl told him with a groan.

He looked towards the branches of the tree not far from him. A firm old oak, that had likely stood here longer than the school itself. Up on one of the higher branches sat a girl, dressed in a dark track suit. One of her legs hung limply down from the branch, as she braided her dark hair.

"Céleste?"

"I hope you had fun tonight because there are at least half a dozen people in our school who want to kick your ass right now," the girl told him with a mirthful chuckle.

Henri groaned. It wasn't really unexpected, but he had still dared to hope that maybe they wouldn't be too angry with him for running off after the second task.

"This is gonna be one of those days..." Henri sighed.

Céleste laughed, as she jumped off from the tree branch and landed next to him. For a moment he was sure that she had been floating, even though he had neither seen nor heard her cast any spells. It was quite odd, but he blamed his sleep deprived and addled mind for this.

"So… what are you doing out here?" she asked him, a curious look on her face. "Just returned from your date and the first thing you do is taking a walk? So old fashioned, Henri."

"I needed time to think," he admitted somewhat awkwardly.

Céleste was hardly close enough to confess any feelings or worries in front of her. She was just a classmate… well, maybe a bit more than a classmate. They had spent some more time together because of the tournament and so they had gotten to know each other somewhat better than before. But still, hers wasn't the first face that came to mind when it comes to an intimate heart to heart talk.

"But what are you doing here? Running away from your adoring audience?" Henri asked her in return, "I've heard that they want you to sing at the Jule Ball."

"Ask me no questions and I'll tell you no lies," she replied enigmatic, as she turned away from him.

She seemed in a strangely jolly mood, as she almost danced over to the water of the lake and crouched down. She began creating small ripples on the water surface with her fingers and giggled every now and then.

"Okay… so that is absolutely not creepy at all," Henri deadpanned. "Maybe I should try to sneak back into my dorm room. Catch at least one or two hours of sleep before facing the inquisition and firing squad."

"Oh, why don't you stay a little longer. This isn't exactly the kind of natural environment I enjoy at home, but when no one else is here, being out here is so soothing. But I wouldn't mind sharing this refuge with you for a little longer. We can talk," Céleste told him, as she continued to play with the water.

Henri wasn't sure what to make of this situation. He wasn't exactly close to this girl, but they had been in the same classes for almost seven years now and he had never seen her act like this before. It was a curious thing to see her like this, possibly the girl behind the mask. He wouldn't be surprised if her usual confident persona was little more than a mask, meant to protect her. He was similar in that regard, with only a certain few knowing who he truly is… He had to chuckle when he realized that his secrets would likely trump anything she had to confess, not that he had any intention to open that particular can of worms. His past life was over, even if Erica still tried to get her brother back.

"I guess we have to part now," Céleste told him suddenly when she finally left the edge of the lake and returned to his side. "I have to go. See you later, gracious paladin." Again there was this mirthful glint in her eyes. "Oh, and you should better wear something fire proof. I know from experience that Veelas are very fiery when they are pissed." Then she ran off, but not towards the school, but towards the less maintained parts of the school garden. Henri could only watch her retreating form for a few short moments before the night swallowed her whole.


	14. Chapter 14

"Ah, Henri, very good. Please take a seat," Madame Maxime said, as she saw the young Flamel enter her office.

Henri had come in the expectation to be scolded, maybe even punished for his disappearing act after the second task. But nothing could have prepared him for what he had to face now. After all the years he knew this woman now, he had never seen a more disturbing sight. She was smirking at him, obviously highly amused by some joke or story that he had no idea about. But from the way she sat behind her desk, relaxed and calm, she was just about the polar opposite of what he had expected.

"Go on, Henri, I do not have the whole day to talk to you, there is a meeting with the headmasters at nine and I intend to be punctual," Madame Maxime told him, as he gestured towards the chair in front of the desk once more.

Henri eyed the chair with some disdain and positioned himself next to it instead. "I think I'd rather stand," he said carefully.

"I insist, Henri," the woman commanded.

He sighed, as he realized that the headmistress had no intention to punish him. Far from it. He had already been punished sufficiently, at least from her point of view. His aching backside was proof enough of that. Even after the burn wound had been healed by the school's healer, the flesh was still sore and sitting was very much uncomfortable. But orders are orders and he had already given the headmistress enough reasons to be cross with him. So he took a deep breath and sat down slowly.

"You already know about Fleur's temper tantrum?" Henri accused when he saw the smug look on the woman's face.

"Whatever do you mean, Mr. Flamel. Miss Delacour has done nothing that had not been sanctioned by the either me or the faculty."

"Sometimes I forget that behind all the regal and noble pretense you can be a very evil person," Henri muttered. "So can we please get this over with? I'd rather not sit here all day and you said that you have other meetings waiting for you."

"Very well," Maxime agreed, "You may be glad to hear that for once you are not here because of something you have done."

"Three cheers to small mercies," Henri exclaimed.

"Yes, yes. Rare as these moments are, you are here to give advice," the headmistress told him dryly. "The first round of the dueling competition will be in less than a week from now and I feel the need to inquire whether our team is ready. I hardly need to explain that our school's pride is at stake and with you being barred from participating, we have to work extra hard."

Henri chuckled when he heard this. After the Beauxbaton's Quidditch team had taken a rather uncomfortable beating from the Hogwart's team, the headmistress seemed hellbent on winning the next competition. As she had said, the pride of the school was at stake, something that every Beauxbatons student, current and former, would be eager to defend.

"They are as ready as they can be. There are no champions among them, but after two months of rigorous training I am proud to say that they know where to aim their wand in a fight."

"I guess that will have to suffice," the headmistress sighed, "I expect you to be with the team during the entire competition. Guide them, lead them from the sidelines. Your presence alone will inspire them, Henri."

"Oh, I will. A pity I am not allowed to fight at all. We could have had a show fight to start the whole show. I am sure that I would have been able to convince Tristan to come and fight me. He does have more than enough new reasons to beat the living shit out of me." And who could blame him, now that he and Cassandra are officially a couple? It surely wouldn't be long before her brother would show up and Henri would actually welcome that challenge. It would be just another chance to prove to Cassandra that he was earnest with his intentions.

"Language, Henri," Maxime admonished him.

"Sorry," he apologized sheepishly. "But I can promise you that our team will give the audience a good show. If there is one thing that I have learned in my dueling career, then it is that the crowd wishes to be entertained and pure violence is not the kind of entertainment they crave."

Not that he hadn't dueled in front of a bloodthirsty audience before. There had been that one small scale tournament in Greece a year or two ago and… well, he was just happy that he had not suffered any scars in visible places. Tristan had dragged him there after he had found out about who had been the first guy to share his sister's bed… Come to think of it, Henri realized now that Tristan might have tried to get him killed there… so much for friends…

"Well, if that is all," Henri said, as he stood up.

"Yes, you may leave," the headmistress told him. "But Henri," He paused, half a step away from the door and looked towards her once more, "From this moment on there will be no more mishaps. You are a champion of Beauxbatons and it is partly thanks to your fame that this school's good name is known far and wide. Do nothing that will damage our reputation. You may not like the press, but you will face them, you will smile while doing it and you will be happy doing it for the school."

"Yes, madame," Henri said. Her smirk was gone and replaced with the cold mask of disapproval he had expected to see when he first entered the room. She can be quite intimidating when she looks like that… or maybe it is the size… yeah, her size combined with the scowl…

* * *

"Well, well, if it isn't the fire slinging fury," Céleste said with a laugh, as she approached Fleur.

Fleur frowned, as she saw one of the few people in the school she wholeheartedly detests. She had come to enjoy the show and watch other students risking their hide in this crazy inter-school competition for a change. But with Céleste near, her enjoyment was impaired considerably. Not to mention that the girl insisted on bringing up that one little temper tantrum… it had already been a week since then and the whole incident was old news by now.

"What do you want?" Fleur demanded to know, a deep scowl marring her face.

"Nothing you would be able to give," the girl replied easily, "I'm just passing by and wondered why you are here, all alone and not with your friends. Don't tell me that you are still angry? It should be Henri's turn to be angry. Or maybe the other boys. A girl storming into the boy's dormitories, what a scandal. And then you even attack the school's most beloved student..."

"Get lost," Fleur growled, "I have no mind to entertain the likes of you."

"Poor girl, so much anger. Is it really just because of Henri's little escape? You did admirably in front of the press, even I can easily admit that. Yet there is so much anger. Somehow I can't believe that this alone can warrant such anger," Céleste said, as she adopted a thoughtful expression, "Or maybe it is because of Henri's sudden romantic entanglement with the Grindelwald girl..."

"Is there no poor sod for you to play with?"

Céleste laughed in amusement, "How touchy. Oh well, I leave you to your grumbling. Ta-ta, little flower."

Then she continued on her way towards the dueling arena, leaving Fleur alone to grumble and curse. It would seem that she had hit a sore spot, something that Céleste would make sure to remember.

* * *

"Alright, now you go out there and show them what you can do. And remember, fight, don't think. The moment you waste on thinking is the moment you loose the fight," Henri instructed, "Now go and show that child what you can do, Iris."

The girl nodded, incited by his words. She took another deep breath before she entered the arena to compete. Henri stayed behind on the balcony, where he and remaining duelists of Beauxbatons sat. From there they had watched the previous fight, another hapless Hogwarts fourth year and a boy from Durmstrang who had been far too eager with the near lethal curses.

"Another Durmstrang student. Iris is in a lot of trouble," Achille muttered, as he watched their year-mate. "They are crazy. Well, except that girlfriend of yours I mean."

Henri chuckled as he heard this, "Durmstrang students are much more competitive and their school teaches many subjects that are considered too dark for schools like ours."

"Now I really hope I get some Hogwarts wuss instead," Achille said, as he shuddered exaggeratedly.

"Dark spells do not make them better, Achille. You can win a fight with the simplest household spell, you only need some creativity," Henri lectured. His eyes were fixed on Iris the entire time as he spoke. The girl did well, better than most of his team.

"So… where is your girlfriend?" Achille asked suddenly.

Henri simply shrugged, as he had no idea. He couldn't see her with the Durmstrang students, but that wasn't uncommon. She had few friends among that group and no intention to change that anytime soon.

"Oh, Iris will feel that one tomorrow morning," Henri said. Several of the other students around him flinched as well when they had to watch Iris getting knocked half-way through the arena.

"Was that move even legal?" Achille exclaimed in outrage.

"Questionable but none the less legal," Henri replied.

"You seem quite knowledgeable, Mr. Flamel."

Henri finally looked away from Iris, to see whom the unknown voice belonged to. He was glad that he managed well enough to hide his surprise when he suddenly looked into a face of his past. The very much familiar face of Sirius Black.

"What are you doing here?" Henri asked, a frown on his face. His memories of this man were quite fond, but with the Potters so close, this man was quite the risk to his new life.

"Peace, boy, I'm just here to talk," Sirius told him, his hand's raised in mock surrender.

"I do know who you are, Mr. Black," Henri said. "It is quite strange to see a British Auror here, especially one who is known to be a very close friend of the Hogwart's coach."

Sirius let out a boisterous laugh, as he heard Henri's stern accusation. "I'm serious, I'm just here to talk."

"And what do you want to know?"

"Erica Potter's whereabouts would be helpful. I've been looking for the little flower but I can't find her anywhere in your school. It's a bit like a labyrinth, you know."

This came indeed as a surprise. He had no idea where Erica had ended up this time, though it was curious that it was Sirius who was looking for her and not her father. No, James Potter was clearly visible on the other side of the arena, on the balcony of the Hogwarts' team, only focused on the competition as it seems.

"I can't help you. My next tutoring lesson with her is on Friday, I usually don't meet her outside of those lessons."

"Really?" Sirius asked, clearly unconvinced.

"Can you please leave us alone now, I have a competition to win and my team needs me to guide them," Henri said.

There was something odd about the man's presence and Henri couldn't really trust his intentions. If Erica Potter was nowhere to be seen, then the first place to look should have been with her fellow Hogwarts students. Well, those who were not here as spectators. But he had come to him. How very curious.

"Henri," Achille called for him and pointed towards the arena.

"Oh dammit," Henri cursed, "Move, Iris. Don't just stand around and let her hit you! I know that you've had dance lesson as a little girl so use those moves!" He yelled.

As much as his fellow students frustrate him at times, he was at least glad to see that they listened to him whenever he gave them instructions. But still, teaching a group of absolute novices how to duel was not exactly easy and from the looks of it, at least the Durmstrang students had quite a head start in their training. Maybe he should talk the headmistress into making dueling more than just a simple elective.

"You've trained them well, Flamel," Sirius told him, as he stood next to Henri and watched the match.

"Had I been given more than a few months for their training than they would be far better," Henri muttered, "But they are eager, which is a good thing."

"So driven, just like James. No wonder he doesn't like you, you are far too similar," Sirius said with a chuckle, "Very competitive."

Henri really didn't like where this conversation was headed. For a moment he wondered whether Erica had told anyone about him, though he discarded that idea just as quickly. She wasn't that dumb or even gullible. And she knew that she would irrevocably loose him, should she reveal his secret. Erica seemed far too intent on winning him over to risk it. So maybe Sirius' words were merely senseless banter.

"Shouldn't you go and search for Erica, Mr. Black?" Henri asked.

"Right, right," Sirius replied almost ruefully. "The little flower is surely around here somewhere. I will find her soon enough."

Henri watched with great suspicion as the man left. Something was truly odd about Sirius Black and it wasn't just his chosen lifestyle. The man was obviously here as an Auror, though he did not wear their robes and pretends to be a simple spectator. It was likely he was here to find out who had made sure that Erica would be part of this tournament. He could only groan, this entire incident was sure to make his life much more difficult. Just his luck.

* * *

As Henri grumbled, Sirius left the dueling arena in a chipper mood. His short meeting with the Flamel boy had been very interesting and allowed him to see why Erica was so interested in that boy. He had his fair share of admirers, but unlike others, it was easy to see why.

Also the headmaster's pride in the boy's accomplishments. Henri Flamel was surely a curious young man. But James was wrong about one thing, the boy did not seem like some strutting peacock.

But he still had to find Erica. The girl was quite the elusive little marauder whenever she wants to be. Just like her mother, Erica often had moments when she searches for quiet solitude.

So he wandered through the gardens, knowing that at this hour there would be many places where the girl could be alone. Almost all the students and the vast majority of all the other people in the school and the surrounding areas.

Luckily for him, his search was a short one. Soon enough he saw the familiar red hair of Hogwarts' new generation of pranksters. The Weasley twins were obviously up to something. They were huddled together with another person, a girl. Sirius couldn't hide the smirk as he realized that it was Erica. It wasn't very often, but the girl did show a keen interest in becoming a prankster, just like her father. Lily would be furious with James should she ever find out about this.

He was curious what these three were planning. So he decided to sneak up on them. They had not yet seen him, so he transformed into his animagus form. As silently as possible he crawled towards the three mischief-makers.

He heard them planning and arguing. Some ingenious little prank on their fellow Hogwarts students. He would have chuckled, had he not been in his canine form. James' fear that there would be no one to take up the mantle of the Marauders had been unfounded. Those three are just as good as they had been. And Erica had deceived them all, making them believe that she was like her mother when it comes to pranks. And maybe those three are even better, though Sirius' pride would never allow him to admit that. He still had much to teach them.

Just as they had reached the end of their planning, he used the chance to surprise them and jumped towards them, still in the form of a grim. It wasn't as if any of those three would report him for being an animagus. The three students yelped in surprise, though in Erica's case that quickly morphed into a wide grin.

"Uncle Sirius, what are you doing here?" The girl asked, as she quickly hugged the black grim. She even clung to him when he reverted back to his human form. He hugged the girl fondly before he looked towards the twins, who watched him with wide eyes.

"Do my eyes deceive me, brother mine?"

"No, my eyes lie as well," the other replied.

"Sirius Black, one of the first Marauders!" They exclaimed in unison, before they fell to their knees, "We are not worthy, oh great Padfoot," they said with the greatest reverence.

"So you found out. You are better than I had thought. Rise, minions," Sirius replied with a mock stern voice, "You are good pranksters, but a few well-executed jokes do not make you Marauders yet."

"We will double our efforts!"

"Triple them, believe in us!"

"I will be the judge of that. Now I need to talk with Erica," Sirius told them.

The two boys hurried away, to find themselves some grand project to prove themselves worthy. Sirius chuckled, as he knew that his words would spur them on to reach new heights with their pranks. He just hoped that he would be around when the fun begins.

"So, why are you here, uncle Sirius?" Erica asked him.

"Just to keep you safe, Erica. That and your dad is worried because you did not show up for the competition today."

"It's my free day," Erica groaned. "Today I'm not the champion no one wants, so why should I be there?"

Sirius ruffled her hair and looked fondly at her. He never had children of his own, he never had felt the urge to have any. James was like a brother to him and includes him in the Potter family so much that he sometimes likes to forget that he is actually a Black. So he had always been very fond of James' children as well.

"You should head back to the rest of the students, for the sake of your father's sanity," Sirius insisted. "But if you want, I can sneak you out into the city this weekend."

"Really?"

"James needn't know about it," Sirius told her with a wide grin. "Maybe we can get your new friend, that Flamel boy to show us the sights."

Erica seemed really enthused about this, her eyes sparkling happily. Then she quickly ran off, towards the dueling arena, where her father was waiting. Sirius stayed for another moment, as he wondered about something… Green eyes. Erica had her mother's eyes, those brilliant green orbs… and to his surprise, he had just met another person with very similar eyes. How curious…

* * *

"Just go and polish your broom, Viktor," Cassandra exclaimed in exasperation, as she pushed away from her fellow Durmstrang champion.

Henri frowned when he saw this happen and quickly hurried over to his girlfriend's side, just in case the situation might escalate. Not that he doubts Cassandra's ability to defend herself, it was more a genuine worry about the consequences, should Krum push his luck too far.

"Get lost, French dog, this has nothing to do with you," Viktor growled, when Henri appeared next to Cassandra. The anger was obvious in his eyes, but Henri could see that the boy knew better than to start a fight with him now.

"No, you go, Viktor. I'm done listening to your idiocy," Cassandra spat before she turned around and walked away from the two boys.

Henri watched Krum for another moment, before the boy left, muttering curses in some language Henri could not understand. As soon as Krum was gone, Henri followed Cassandra.

"What was this about?" He asked her, as fell into step beside her.

"Just Viktor being a bullheaded idiot. He thinks that my relationship with you is an insult to our school and that I should rather date a more honorable and distinguished Durmstrang student instead. Most of the other Durmstrang students agree. Not that I care for the whims of mindless cattle," she muttered.

Henri put an arm around her shoulder and pulled her closer to him. Unlike in the past, she now allowed such simple gestures of affection and actually leaned into him.

"I just wish this cursed year was over. Tristan had ruled that damn school like a king and left me behind to pick up the crown I never wanted. He's such an ass," she continued.

"If it becomes too unbearable, just tell me. I will talk to the headmistress to give you a room in our dorms," Henri told her. "And if that isn't enough then I pity the poor sod who dares to challenge you because I will not let them get away with that."

"Duel a whole school at once? Not even you are that good. And think about what the press would say..."

"The public would love it for sure. The dashing chevalier protecting his beloved from the evil clutches of the monsters she has to live with," he couldn't help himself but laugh. Even for his standards, this sounded utterly cheesy and far too reminiscent of that stupid story he had been forced to retell for the second task.

To his relief, though, Cassandra laughed as well. "Only in France, you would see the romantic side of such a life and death situation. And not all of my fellow students are monsters. Just a chosen few," she said, "Sadly, Karkaroff chose mostly monsters to come here."

"I've seen that. Their dueling team is not here to win, they are here to obliterate everything in their way. It has already been a week since the first round and we still have two students under regular observation by a healer."

He had not been happy about this and made his displeasure known to all three headmasters. Even Uncle Albus had to admit that Durmstrang's students had nearly crossed a line with their liberal use of some very dangerous spells. This was a competition for mostly underage students, the rules imposed on such duels are there for a reason. But there wouldn't be any consequences. He had lost a third of his team in the first round and for what? The Durmstrang students weren't here to give the people a good show, their only purpose was to destroy. He would have to triple the training for his remaining team, just to prevent anymore… mishaps.

"I was sorry to hear about that. But I can't say I'm surprised. Karkaroff is very angry that his favorite champion is not the number one in this whole tournament," Cassandra told him with a deep sigh. "I'm so sick and tired of Durmstrang."

"Only a few more months, then we both are free. How about a little vacation? Some wonderful island, long beaches, the sea before us and the sun above. Just you and me."

"And my brother, his bloodhounds and whoever else he can find to hunt us down," Cassandra told him. They shared a laugh before leaned in to kiss her lips. As their lips parted again, he leaned his forehead against hers.

"Let him try," he said. He was still so close that his breath tickled her lips.

"Sometimes I'm not sure whether you are brave or foolish," she replied.

Their moment of closeness was rudely interrupted a moment later when someone near them cleared his throat behind them. Henri groaned in annoyance, as Cassandra stepped away from him to see who had approached them.

"Monsieur Baudin," Henri said rather flippantly. Only when Cassandra showed him an exasperated look, he ceased to frown at his teacher. "How can I be of service?"

"The headmistress has sent me to fetch you. And since Ms. Grindelwald is with you, she shall come along. They need her as well," the teacher told him.

"What for?" Henri asked in surprise. To his knowledge, there were no further contests planned for the last three weeks of December. So this meeting was either to discuss the third task, which would be held in the early weeks of the new year, or they had found some other sordid way to feed the champions to the press.

"I have not been told. They only want me to bring you to the headmistress office," Baudin replied.

Henri knew that it was no use to argue, so he simply followed the teacher. Cassandra came along as asked, holding Henri's hand he entire way back. It pleased him immensely to know that she was willing to show the status of their relationship for all to see. She may not have said the words yet, but he was sure that sooner or later he would get her to admit her feelings.

Not much later they found themselves in the office of headmistress Maxime, together with the other champions and all three headmasters. It was obvious that all champions were curious about why they were here.

Again it was Dumbledore who took the lead, "I am sure all of you are quite surprised about why you have been called here at this hour. But fear not, this time we do not have a task to test your abilities. No, we have gathered here to discuss another event this month. The Yule Ball."

"But we already know about it," Henri exclaimed, "We have known for months and we are more than prepared."

"Yes, yes, my boy. But there are certain things that you all, as champions, will have to know," Dumbledore continued.

"As champions, you all will be not just the guests of honor, but also the ones to open the dance. You will be required to dance with your partner and you are expected to show the best behavior," Madame Maxime continued where the headmaster had left off.

Henri really wondered why they felt the need to repeat all the things the champions already knew. Of course, there had been no official notice, but most of it was common knowledge. Especially the Beauxbatons students were quite used to balls and other social events. In the seven years at school, Henri had attended no less than twelve balls at school.

"Henri, my boy, there is one more stipulation for the ball," Dumbledore continued. He looked only at Henri as he said this and strangely enough, it seemed as if he was only addressing him.

"What stipulation?"

"Seeing as we have both a male and female champion for each school, the champions will attend as partners representing their schools," Dumbledore told him.

"But..."

"My boy, we are well aware of your wonderful relationship with Ms. Grindelwald, but this has been decided with the best interest of the schools in mind," the old wizard continued. "You may dance with her later that evening."

Henri bit his tongue, to keep himself from arguing. He knew that it was no use. It wasn't so much that he minded attending the ball with Fleur as his date. They had been to balls together before, but he was firmly against letting Cassandra go alone with Krum. But for the moment he would have to accept this foolish decision…


End file.
